In an effort to adhere to and support Volleyball Canada's Long Term Development Model (LTD 3.0), Volleyball Nova Scotia has madeTripleball the official competition format for the 14U age category until Feb 15th (first half of the season), and for all 13U events including VNS Championships.  

Click HERE to see a simple video from Volleyball Alberta on how Tripleball is Played! 
Click here to watch highlights of a Tripleball match courtesy of Ontario Volleyball.

Tripleball has been Volleyball Canada’s recommend method of play for these age categories many years. The game has also been successfully adopted in most other provinces and has been shown to increase participation. The game was initially created to promote better skill development, meaningful competition, and fun.

The main catalyst for Volleyball Nova Scotia’s recommendation of Tripleball is the increased probability of creating a rally. Building up rallies and experiencing success early on is an integral part of learning and enjoying the game of volleyball. 

Further, a series of statistics were compiled across Canada that revealed the following:

By initiating the rally with a serve in the 13U age group:

• 57% of rallies contain 2 or less contacts
• 29% of all serves were missed
• 28% of all serves were aces
• A second contact volley by the designated setter occurs 13% of the time in hideout
• A third contact attack occurs 16% of the time in sideout
• The average rally contains 0.28 attacks
• The average rally contains 4.16 contacts

By initiating the rally with a toss in the 13U age group:

• 99% of rallies contain 2 or more contacts
• A second contact volley by the designated setter occurs 64% of the time in sideout
• A third contact attack occurs 49% of the time in sideout
• The average rally contains 0.85 attacks
• The average rally contains 5.61 contacts

To compare, by using a toss to initiate a rally as opposed to a serve we see:

• 4 Times the number of second contact volleys by the designated setter in sideout
• 3 Times as many attacks in sideout
• 3 Times as many attacks overall
• 1.5 more contacts per rally

To summarize the data, Tripleball provides more opportunities to volley, attack, block, play defense and transition than the adult version of volleyball. We also feel that having the outcome of the game more dependent on a team’s ability to build up a rally, play defense and transition encourages coaches to train these aspects of the game more during practice.

The rules not allowing players to switch positions during the rally lets every athlete experience the challenges of each position and helps them develop a wider range of abilities and a deeper understanding of the game.

For more information, please contact Executive Director Jason Trepanier