CALDWELL, Idaho - The College of Idaho Athletics Department is adding Beach Volleyball as an intercollegiate program, becoming the fifth program in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and the second in the state of Idaho to officially offer the sport.
“We are thrilled to announce the addition of the fastest growing sport in the NAIA, Women’s Beach Volleyball, at The College of Idaho,” said College of Idaho Co-President Jim Everett. “Anytime we can provide opportunities for more students to engage in the outstanding liberal arts and sciences program that The College of Idaho offers, while also providing competition at a high level, we are excited to do so. One need look no further than to our most recent Rhodes Scholar, Kaya Evans, who played soccer here, to know the benefits of blending faculty mentorships with the relationships built with teammates and coaches and the lessons taught in real time in competition. When done right, it is a powerful combination that can produce incredible results.”
“The addition of Beach Volleyball will provide new opportunities for female student-athletes to compete at The College of Idaho,” said Vice President of Athletics Reagan Rossi. “We look forward to hiring a coach to begin our recruiting process both locally and regionally. Initially, we anticipate a roster of 14 with the potential to grow that number. We are excited and proud to be able to provide an exceptional academic and athletic experience for these young women.”
“Congratulations to The College of Idaho on the addition of Beach Volleyball as its latest varsity sport,” stated CCC commissioner Robert Cashell. “Beach is clearly a fast-growing activity and we are very close to being able to consider it a conference championship sport once we reach the critical number of six sponsoring schools.”
For the Cascade Collegiate Conference to sponsor a championship, there needs to be six participating institutions and for the NAIA to sponsor a championship, there needs to be 40 total institutions. Currently, there are four institutions within the CCC that sponsor beach volleyball as well as 30 NAIA institutions that sponsor the sport across the country. Last spring, the NAIA hosted a NAIA hosted a national invitational that featured three conference automatic qualifiers and three at-large spots. One of the at-large spots went to Corban University, which is a member of the CCC, that went on to win the championship.
Beach Volleyball becomes the 21
st varsity program that will compete in the 2023-24 campaign with the College’s first official competition will be in the spring of 2024.
Rossi noted with the construction of four new courts on the west side of the Treasure Valley, it will also provide opportunities for local adult and youth leagues, corporate team building, youth camps and more.
Beach Volleyball is one of the fastest growing sports in the county. The sport made the quickest transition from an ‘emerging’ sport to a ‘championship’ sport in NCAA history from 61 teams in 2014 to 179 teams in 2022. The NAIA is not far behind.
The process of finding the first head beach volleyball coach is underway and interested candidates can visit
https://www.collegeofidaho.edu/jobs for more information.