Junior Rules

 

JuVoTo rules

(Rebranded from Junior Grand Prix for 2018-19 season)

Please also read the Junior Philosophy page (under Competitions-SW Juniors-Junior Grand Prix)

Updated October 2022.

The fundamental purpose of the SWVA – JuVoTo programme is to encourage young people to play (commonly for their first time) – competitive volleyball in a competition style setting. Every effort and emphasis should be on a positive, fun and engaging atmosphere; in a safe and welcoming environment. The SWVA urges all participants, coaching and adult helpers and event organisers to collectively ensure that young people attending these events leave with a positive sense of achievement.

Every opportunity should be applied to ensure the spirit of the game of Volleyball is upheld, and all attendees are treated with respect, without fear of any form of discrimination, harm or negativity.

Participants should be encouraged to play within FIVB rules wherever possible, the following are acceptable adaptations of these rules to ensure game play, flow of game and so that a maximum positive experience can be achieved during these events and for the young people’s level and abilities.

  1. The event will consist of up to eight – 3 v 3 tournaments in a season.
  2. The age groups will be Under 12/13/14/15 and further split into boys and girls.
  3. Rock-Paper-Scissors can be used to identify which team should serve.
  4. Age category is determined by the player’s age on 1 September regardless of ability. A player can play in an older category. Players 15 years of age, or older on the 1st September will not be permitted to enter these events.
  5. Games will be played on badminton courts with a high net. The net height should aim to be around 2.0m high.
  6. Under 12s will use the inside court markings and may take one step forward onto the court when serving – if required (if they are capable of serving from behind the line then this should be encouraged).
  7. All other age groups will use the outside badminton markings and will need to serve outside of the court. Stepping onto or over the back line will be considered a serving fault.
  8. If it is necessary to mix the age groups of the pools, U12 vs U13 game: each team has their own age-appropriate court size (i.e U12 will play using inner lines on their side and U13 will play using outer lines on their side).
  9. Under and over arm serving is permitted in all age groups.
  10. After 3 consecutive serves by one player, the serving team should rotate one position and the next sever continues with a maximum of 3 further serves. After 6 consecutive serves by a team, the ball will go to the opposition; but without them gaining a point.
  11. Catch and Push” technique will be permitted but the level of what is acceptable will be briefed before each tournament begins by the event organisers, and they may be required to offer an example and demonstration to all participants of what is acceptable, as a guide and as a standard that all events should aspire to: the catch needs to be above the forehead, the hold is a respectable length of time, (i.e. not more than half a second) and the push is sending the ball in the direction the person is facing. Twisting or turning before sending the ball is NOT permitted, throwing the ball from below head height, from behind the head or in a direction other that in which the person is facing will be considered a fault. For more able/experienced players, Beach Volleyball type sets should be discouraged as these will contradict this rule and encourage poor technique for indoor Volleyball rules and development.
  12. “Catch and Push” will not be accepted in age categories U13 through to U15. However, to enthuse new players and beginners and not to discourage novice enthusiasts some common sense on the day needs to be applied, if individual struggle to overhead pass, they should be encouraged to underarm pass to save the flow of the game being halted too often.
  13. No use of feet in the playing of the ball – this is discouraged in early skill development of juniors else it will lead to bad habits.
  14. Contact with the net will not be permitted, nor will full penetration under the net, beyond the centre line. It will not always be possible to have a marked centre line below the net when using badminton courts and applying a temporary, taped line will not always be allowed by the centre/venue’s owners. Clear and obvious violation, or actions that may endanger the opposition should be called by the refereeing team, adults supporting the refereeing team will need to help make these judgements.
  15. The use of ‘local rules’ or adaptations to these rules should not be permitted. This will help to ensure uniformity across regions and events, the host team should ensure that all teams are aware of these rules and that teams attending their event should bring any conflicts to the event organisers attention, and where possible, resolutions made there and then. Unresolved issues should be passed on to the SWVA Junior Development Officers attention after the event so future rules can be reviewed. Results on the day will be final, and the event organiser will have the last say in any dispute, this should be respected and accepted by all attending, without conflict or negativity.
  16. Pools in any tournament may be mixed together to make the tournament viable. There will be separate age group results for each tournament.
  17. The team with the youngest player will always select the weight of the lightweight balls if there is a dispute. From the U13 age categories and upwards, the lightest ball allowed will be a Mikasa 230g or equivalent. U12 playing in U13 categories will be expected to play with the minimum 230g ball, but they can (as youngest player) select this weight over any heavier ball.
  18. The weight of the ball selected at the start of the game will be that played with throughout the entire game, it cannot be changed for a different weight at any stage of the game.
  19. Clubs should aim to enter a minimum of 3 players per team into the tournament. If a club is finding it difficult to make enough players to form a team/s, it is allowed to play with a team of 2 rather than not attend or enter the event (this rule is aimed at clubs with smaller youth membership who might struggle to field a team/s). The aim of these tournaments is to play 3v3 volleyball and beach style 2v2 is not encouraged.
  20. Transgender Young People entering into these events will need to following VE policies – details can be found here: VE Transgender Policy
  21. Teams with more than 3 players can use continuous rotation at serve to bring players on, but only 3 players will be permitted on court at any one time.
  22. It is also allowed to include one boy from a younger category in a girls’ team or one girl up to one year older in a boys’ team. This should only be permitted where a club is otherwise unable to field a team for players in their correct gender and age categories.
  23. All games will be timed, started and stopped by the event organiser. In the event the end of the game is sounded while a rally is still in play, the rally can be completed and the score for that rally recorded on the score sheet.
  24. Unless there is a distinct advantage, there will be no need to select or change ends, where there is a distinct advantage, i.e. sunlight from windows causing this, then teams should swap ends after each 6 points played, this should be swift and without delay to the game, stopping for drinks or coaches’ comments will not be permitted.
  25. No time outs are allowed.

26. The following rules will be applied to determine the winner of the JuVoTo series:

At each JuVoTo event, points will be awarded as follows:
1st: 10, 2nd: 8, 3rd: 6, 4th: 5, 5th: 4, 6th: 3, 7th: 2, 8th: 1

At each JuVoTo event, the winner will be determined as follows:
1) Number of game points (3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss)
2) Points coefficient (points won divided by points lost)
3) More points for

At the end of the series, the team with the most JuVoTo series points is the overall winner.

If there is a tie then the following order applies:
1) More game points
2) Points coefficient (points won divided by points lost)
3) More points for