GULF SHORES, Ala. – Gulf Shores just may have the best sand in the world for playing volleyball.

At last that’s what local volleyball enthusiast Philip Bryant says players have told him. Bryant is Volleyball USA’s Gulf Coast Region Commissioner.

In April the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Sports Commission was the host for the first women’s sand volleyball national championships. Recently the American Volleyball Coaches Association awarded a bid for the city to play host again for the next three years as well.

The next championship, sanctioned by the AVCA, will by May 3-5 at the public beach.

And Bryant says the sand here is one of the big reasons.

“We’ve got the nicest sand of anywhere in the world to play on and the word is getting out,” Bryant said. “It has been called the nicest playing sand of anywhere in the world by those who came in and played on it in the most recent championships by some of the players who travel and play internationally and play in U.S. Beach Volleyball’s elite programs.”

Bryant says the bid is a stamp of approval from the volleyball community for the Gulf Coast. The event, featuring both a pairs and team championship, will take place on the first weekend in May of 2013, 2014 and 2015.

“It’s an awesome vote of confidence by the volleyball community, particular the sand volleyball community to recognize exactly what the northern Gulf Coast has,” Bryant said.

The city has agreed to provide up to $30,000 each year to help be a host to a national championship of sand volleyball for the second year in a row.

Gulf Shores was the site for the first AVCA sand volleyball championships April 27-29 and the services provided by the city left quite an impression on the volleyball world. Gulf Shores was chosen over three other cities vying for the 2012 event: Los Angeles and San Diego, Calif., and Orlando, Fla.

CBS rebroadcast the event in three one-hour segments and says 3.1 million viewers tuned in.

Additionally, Gulf Shores became one of only two cities to be awarded the AVCA’s plaque for meritorious service. The only other is the quite famous volleyball city of Manhattan Beach, Calif., the birthplace of beach volleyball.

Bryant said “the hospitality and how great Gulf Shores is with their assistance in the event and how great the Hangout is to provide the culture that sand coaches just thrived on having” played a big role in receiving the award.

Beth Gendler, vice president of sales for the sports commission, says the national championship will bring excitement to the area.

"We are thrilled to welcome this outstanding group of female athletes and their families to our 32-mile sugar-white sand beach destination," Beth Gendler, vice-president of sales at the sports commission said. “Our area received significant positive national television exposure, which speaks to the phenomenal value of this continued partnership with the AVCA and CBS Sports Network."

The AVCA also announced that long-time sand volleyball television partner, CBS Sports Network, will again be televising portions of the Championships. CBS Sports Network has been working with the AVCA since 2007 to promote collegiate beach volleyball, and has been part of every national championship telecast.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with this development,” Nina Matthies, the chair of the AVCA Sand Volleyball Coaches Committee, said. “Besides a beautiful beach, Gulf Shores provided a championship atmosphere that was amazing. One thing is for sure, we’ll train like crazy to get back there, and so will every other team in the country!”

The sport, called sand volleyball by the NCAA, was approved as an Emerging Sport for women in 2009. Fifteen schools sponsored varsity teams in the spring of 2012, the first season of competition for Division I schools.

That number is expected to double in 2013 and surpass 40, the threshold for championship status, by the spring of 2014. Should funds be approved for a championship in the next budget cycle, the NCAA would host their first national championship in the spring of 2016.

“What we’ve said right from the beginning is if the addition of sand volleyball to the emerging-sports list means that in 10 years there’s another 100,000 to 250,000 girls playing volleyball (court or sand), then this is a great idea,” AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer told NCAA Champions magazine in its summer issue. “If the number of girls playing volleyball is exactly the same 10 years from now and we’re splitting the talent pool between two sports, then this was a terrible idea.

“But with one season under our belt, there’s already reason to believe that first scenario is the one we’re quickly going to get.”