College Court Construction

(2) Prepping the Site

Dimensions of the court are 29'6" feet by 59' feet and are measured from the outer edge of the boundary lines. The new 2 on 2 court size is 26'3" x 52'6". (We still prefer to build to the 6 on 6 court size so our courts accommodate both sizes and in case the 2 on 2 court size returns to the larger size.)

The boundary lines should be made of brightly colored tape or rope having similar characteristics (Note: Ropes can sometimes leave burns if you contact them accidentally, thick 2" wide webbing is what is recommended and what the professionals use). (For safety reasons we recommend removing the lines at night to protect people from tripping and injuring themselves). The plane of the net serves as an invisible center line of the court, dividing it into two halves.

(3) Selecting an Edge:

After excavation has been completed you will want to select an edging material. When it comes to collegiate volleyball with school reputations, coach reputations, scholarships and possibly future professional careers, the edge you select is very important from a safety point of view. Volleyball is a sport played in the air and a player chasing after a volleyball looking up in the air shouldn't have to worry about diving for a ball during a critical play and landing on a concrete, wood or other hard edges.

This is why we manufacture two products for the sport of beach volleyball, Edge Guard® and Curb Pad®. Both products provide a safety cushion to protect your players from injuries.

Edge Guard® - Designed to be installed on a treated 2 x 12 buried vertically one inch below grade with no cutting needed. We recommend having pieces overlapping every 8 feet for quick setup. The Edge Guard® is then attached to the top of the board providing cushion if a player lands on top while being rigid enough to accept a weed wacker when maintaining the grass edge. This will also keep grass from growing into your sand. The material is made with Ultraviolet resistant plastic, helping its color last for years in outdoor exposure. Be sure to ask for color availability and pricing (1-800-494-3933).

Curb Pad® - Designed to affix to the top of concrete or wood curbs wider than 2". This makes the inner and top edge of the material padded for protection while the outside edge facing the grass is left unpadded allowing maintenance for the grass. The Curb Pad® attaches easily to concrete curbs using rigid outdoor velcro but can be installed permanently via brass grommets. It is available in any length and also available in 1" - 4" high compression foam thickness.

(4) Selecting Volleyball Sand:

After excavation, drainage and court edging has been completed, you will be ready for your volleyball sand. We enjoy the challenge of helping people select the best volleyball sand for each project we work on. As the leader in beach volleyball court construction, we have thorough knowledge of what is good and bad sand for volleyball. In the past, we have worked on countless projects where local sand and gravel companies have lead customers towards a sand they regretted purchasing as soon as people start playing volleyball on it.

Sand and gravel companies are in business to sell sand and DO NOT offer a money back guarantee if you are unhappy with it for volleyball use.

This is why we have invested thousands of dollars in time and equipment to determine what is good, low cost volleyball sand throughout the United States.

We source, blend, screen and sell sand that is ideal for volleyball. We are not searching for and offering Golf Coarse Bunker Sand, Masonry Sand, or Play Sand

Masonry sand is typically full of dust, little pebbles or both. Masonry sand on average will typically have 3-5% dust in it with most companies screening out only 1/8" rocks or bigger. Many courts we've seen have been built with Masonry sand containing 10% pea gravel content! Courts built with this bad sand will be dusty, cut your feet, knees and elbows, and will pack often after rainfall. Finding sand without these three issues is not easy. We spend countless hours working on sourcing / blending / screening sand to meet volleyball criteria. We often do it to compliment the equipment we sell.

Golf Bunker sand is made to pass the fried egg test with golf balls. This means if a golf ball hits the sand only half the golf ball submerges in the sand. This is the exact opposite of what you want with beach volleyball sand. You want your knees, elbows and feet to sink in the soft sand. Applying the fried egg test to beach volleyball means substituting a golf ball for a knee cap or elbow and results in a scrape, bruise, bone contusion, dislocated shoulder, broken bone, etc..

Play Sand is designed to be sat in and played with by little kids and is sold at a lower price. To keep the price low they don't remove the dust. It has lots of dust that is very noticeable as soon as you put a bunch down and start playing volleyball.

The reason we are the leader in the United States in volleyball sand sales... We take a different approach.

We start with sand currently in use at popular spots around the country like Manhattan Beach, Santa Barbara, Ft. Myers, Etc.. and make our volleyball sands in major metropolitan areas to closely match these beach sands just like Mother Nature did. The cost is typically more than Masonry Sand since it costs money to pay people to hydraulically spin the dust out of the sand and to remove all of the small pebbles that scrape up your skin. It takes sand plants a long time to mechanically screen out the small rocks and pebbles when making 200 tons of sand for a standard size volleyball court.

In most areas a homeowner cannot ask a sand plant to make volleyball sand. Sand companies do not want to stop production of their profitable sands to make a few hundred tons of volleyball sand. Since we build so many courts around the country we can pay them to do this process and in return re-sell the sand to the volleyball marketplace in need of this product.

Your budget may dictate the depth of sand used but keep in mind that if you go with a lesser depth, you must plan on raking or shoveling back sand from the middle of your "dished out court" to the sides about once a week or more (depending on how often the court is used).

(5) Selecting Volleyball Equipment:Volleyball Pole Sleeves

Volleyball Pole Sleeves

Many colleges choose to install volleyball poles into sleeves to allow for storage during the winter or off-season. We offer two types. Both incorporate anodized aluminum to prevent rusting of the poles inside of the sleeves.

Hard Surface Top Sleeve (left) -This sleeve is used on all non-floating floors and concreted in a 2 ft wide by 4 ft deep concrete footing re-enforced with re-bar.

Bolt Down Sleeves (right) -Bolt down sleeves are designed to sit on-top of a submerged concrete footing also 2 foot by 4 foot wide. Six stainless steel j-bolts are installed to accept a steel bolt down plate with an anodized aluminum liner so that the finished pole angle can be adjusted with washers to accommodate the volleyball pole deflection.

POP 3.5" and 3" Outdoor Ground Sleeve / Socket CFBS: Sand Volleyball Concrete-Free Pole Sleeve Set BSBD: Boot Sleeve Bolt Down BD-POP-S: Bolt Down POP 3.5 and 3" Sleeve Outdoor Ground Socket

Volleyball Poles / Standards

College volleyball facilities are currently built using poles in three styles. The first style being the use of telescoping poles similar to indoor volleyball poles but specialized for prolonged outdoor use, where the top cable comes off the top of the pole. The second style is working with existing equipment where hardware is purchased to update existing equipment to handle college level competition. The third style utilizes a taller men's and women's compatible pole that can quickly and easily adjust from one height to another, accommodating more volleyball players at their school.

Slider Attachment Monson Slider Poles Bazooka Slider Poles

Volleyball Nets

We print and sew all of our volleyball nets. We pride ourselves on making the longest lasting volleyball nets in the world using the highest quality vinyls, strongest sewing thread, dowels and stainless steel cables. When investing money on custom printed volleyball nets your net is only as good as it's weakest component. The University of South Carolina net you see here (below) was made with a 5 year limited warranty using a 2 color screen print process. These can be challenging to make but the superior materials and printing process provide the outdoor longevity colleges are looking for.

Custom Printed PBN4 Volleyball Net

Volleyball Pole Padding

We manufacture a wide variety of volleyball pole pads ranging from casual / recreational style pads to professional styled pads with pre-formed corners. We use 2" high compression foam to a height of 6' in order to protect both smaller and taller players from injuries. Each pad uses 18 oz. vinyl that is both Ultraviolet and Mildew Resistant. There are 16 different colors we offer so we can do most major school colors.

As shown below, we are capable of doing custom artwork on the padding, both digitally and screen printed. For printed pads, the color will last much longer and even withstand the elements in outdoor environments.

Custom Padding

Volleyball Court Boundary Lines

With us manufacturing boundary lines, we make lines in pretty much any color at official court size or adjustable so your referees can fine tune the lines to an exact 26'3" x 52'6". The lines are held in place by sand plants buried in the sand on each corner, maintaining shape even if knicked by diving players.

Pro adjustable Boundary Lines (left)- Used in professional volleyball tours and in the Olympic Games, these are made of heavy duty Ultraviolet treated webbing, preventing color fading in prolonged sunlight. Attached are adjustable buckles for fine tuning.

Premium Boundary Lines (right)- Constructed out of two layers of 18 oz vinyl and 4 rows of stitching to eliminate stretching. Other lines on the market typically use single layer / non sewn vinyl and tend to stretch. Like the Pro adjustable lines, these also have adjustable buckles. Offered in 16 different colors.

Pro Adjustable Boundary Lines Custom Printed Boundary Lines Premium Vinyl Boundary Lines

Electronic Scoreboards by VolleyballUSA.com

We have three different styles available for electronic scoreboards and they can be modified for specific school needs. All are Permanent Outdoor Volleyball Scoreboards and come as Single Court, Multi-Court, and Single Court with Past Game Scoring. Each scoreboard is digital, allowing for scores, games, and team names to switch sides depending on teams position on the field. Digits are different heights. Score - 12", Current Game - 10", Past Game - 5", Indicators -2". Each scoreboard also includes a horn. Pricing includes custom printing for school name and logo on the center of each scoreboard. Optional mounting posts are available for extra cost Call 1-800-494-3933 for pricing.

Permanent Outdoor Single Court Scoreboard

Retail $7,599

Only $6,450

Permanent Outdoor Single Court Scoreboard

Retail $7,999

Only $7,266

Permanent Outdoor Single Court Scoreboard

Retail $21,999

Only $19,350