GULF SHORES, Alabama - The Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Sports Commission (GSOBSC) along with the City of Gulf Shores and the Gulf Coast Region of USA Volleyball is set to host the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s (AVCA) Sand Volleyball National Championships featuring the top six college teams in the country as well as the top doubles teams across all schools.

The championships take place from May 3-5 on Gulf Shores Main Public Beach. Competing schools and individual pairs will be announced on April 21.

Approved as an NCAA Emerging Sport for women in 2009, sand volleyball is more popular than ever among collegiate athletes. Once the number of schools sponsoring sand volleyball teams reaches a championship status of 40, the sport, upon budget approval, may become an officially NCAA-sanctioned championship sport. As beachgoers hit the Gulf in May, they are encouraged to watch these competitive matchups unfold among the best collegiate sand volleyball players from coast to coast. Admission is free, and portions of the series will be filmed and televised at a later date by CBS Sports Network, a long-standing sand volleyball television partner.

The AVCA’s inaugural sand championship event in 2012 was held in Gulf Shores with a great turnout of families, fans, locals and guests, and this year’s event should pack an even bigger punch. Per an agreement with the AVCA, GSOBSC will host the championships through 2015.

Leading up to the AVCA event, the Gulf Coast Region of USA Volleyball’s Beach Series Junior and Adult Tournament will take place in Gulf Shores at the same site on Saturday, April 27 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The association is a region of USA Volleyball, the national governing body for beach volleyball in the U.S., and is comprised of club teams from across the northern Gulf coast region aspiring to reach an elite, Olympic level. Fans are encouraged to cheer on these youth and adult athletes as they battle it out to win the series title.

Visit www.avca.org for more information about the AVCA and www.gulfcoastvolleyball.org for more information about the Gulf Coast Region Volleyball Association.