2026-27 Competition Guide
The Competition Guide is a document of rules and regulations for the Club Volleyball Season and all VNS-Sanctioned competitions within. All clubs, club directors, head coaches, assistant coaches, and managers should be familiar with and aware of its contents and ensure that each club and team is operating within these guidelines throughout the Club Volleyball Season.
The Competition Guide is updated annually, which includes any rule changes from Volleyball Canada.
The 2025-26 Competition Guide can be found HERE.
The 2026-27 Competition Guide will be uploaded soon.
2026-27 What's New
The What’s New document highlights this season’s important dates, as well as any upcoming significant changes to our rules and guidelines.
The “What’s New” document will be uploaded soon.
Age Categories
2026-2027 Club Athlete Age Categories are as follows:
The following rules apply to both Nova Scotia Championships and VC National Championships:
18U**: Athletes born between September 1, 2008 and Dec 31, 2009 (16 months)
17U*: Athletes born between September 1, 2009 and Dec 31, 2010 (16 months)
16U: Athletes born between September 1, 2010 and Dec 31, 2011 (16 months)
15U: Athletes born between September 1, 2011 and Dec 31, 2012 (16 months)
14U: Athletes born between September 1, 2012 and Dec 31, 2013 (16 months)
13U: Athletes born between September 1, 2013 and Dec 31, 2014 (16 months)
12U: Athletes born on September 1, 2014 and Dec 31, 2017 (40 months) – Minimum age of 10 years old.
* Athletes born September 1-December 31 of the previous year, on a current CCAA or USports volleyball roster, will not be permitted to play in the 17U age class.
**For 2027 VC Club Nationals & VNS Provincials, 18U Age Category ONLY:
- A team roster for the 18U category may include the following:
- 2 athletes born from Jan 1 – August 31, 2008, with the following restrictions:
- Athletes are NOT permitted to be part of any USports, CCAA, or other Post-Secondary volleyball program for the current season (October 1, 2026 – May 1, 2027)
- A maximum of 2 current USports, CCAA, or other post-secondary*** athletes born from Sept 1 – Dec 31, 2008.
- Athletes born in 2009 are eligible to be a part of a team roster without any post-secondary restrictions.
- The club and post-secondary coach should agree this is developmentally appropriate considering the season of play, training load, and circumstances of the post-secondary athlete.
- 2 athletes born from Jan 1 – August 31, 2008, with the following restrictions:
***Definition of Post-Secondary:
- Rostered with a post-secondary institution that they are attending, beginning October 1, 2026
- Athletes are permitted to tryout/train with a post-secondary team in September 2026.
- Post-Secondary does NOT include RSEQ collegiate athletes in Division 2 & 3, intramural programs or club programs, within a post-secondary institution.
- RSEQ athletes in Division 1, who are registered in their 1st year of collegiate studies and CCAA are NOT considered post-secondary athletes.
- Upon request the 18U Head Coach and/or Club President shall provide eligibility verification of any athletes attending post-secondary institution.
Guiding Principles:
Volleyball Canada, by providing a range of months (16) within a competitive division, gives athletes greater flexibility to choose a level that best suits their needs and supports Long-Term Development (LTD) research. Athletes, parents, and coaches should consider the short-term and long-term benefits of playing in different age categories. Clubs may have their own policies around playing up/down in different age categories.
Download full Volleyball Canada policy HERE.
Tryouts
Club / Team Selection (2026-27)
Communication: Please note that any exchange of information between a club and athlete including offers letters must include parents/guardians.
The Re-signing, Early Signing, Unofficial Offer, and Official Offer letters will be the only way clubs may communicate an offer. These letters have been created to provide all clubs with a consistent message when making offers.
Important dates and timelines:
- Re-signing and Early Signing Period (November 10 – November 15)
- Tryout Period (December 6 – December 15)
Offer Letters
Re-Signing Offer Letter (November 10 – November 15)
Early Signing Offer Letter (November 10 – November 15 (16U-18U Age Categories Only)
Unofficial Offer Letter (December 6 – December 15)
Official Offer Letter (December 16, 5:00pm)
Re-signing Period (November 10 – November 15)
During this period, clubs have the option to offer spots to players who were members of their club in the previous season by sending them a Re-signing Offer Letter. Players can accept this offer by signing the Re-signing Offer Letter and returning it to the club. Offers expire 48 hours after they are sent.
Early Signing Period November 10 – November 15) – 16U-18U Age Categories Only
During this period, athletes may initiate communication with other clubs to express their interest in joining a 16U through 18U team in a new or different club. This should be done by sending a club an Athlete Expression of Interest Form. Players can accept this offer by signing the Early Signing Offer Letter and returning it to the club. Offers expire 48 hours after they are sent.
Clubs have the option to offer spots to players who express interest by sending them an Early Signing Offer Letter. Players can accept this offer by signing the Early Offer Letter and returning it to the club. Offers expire 48 hours after they are sent.
No offers can be made or accepted between November 16 and December 5.
Tryout Period (December 6 – December 15)
Players who have not yet signed an offer with a club will enter the Tryout Period, which will take place from December 6 to December 15.
Unofficial Offers:
Clubs can make “unofficial offers” to players during the Tryout Period by using the Unofficial Offer Letter. This letter represents the club’s intention to offer the player a spot at the end of the Tryout Period. Players are free to unofficially accept the offer but are not obligated to respond.
Official Offers:
Clubs can make “official offers” to players by using the Official Offer Letter starting at 5:00pm on December 16. This offer is valid until 5:00pm on December 18. Players must reply within that timeframe to secure their spot on the team. Any official offer that has not been responded to by that time may expire at the club’s discretion.
Additional Information
Clubs may not require payment of any club fees or deposits until the tryout period has ended, with the exception of tryout fees.
Teams/clubs may select players after the Tryout Period; however, they need to be aware that athletes may have already joined other teams. Once an athlete has accepted a spot with another team, they will not be able to switch teams.
For more information please contact VNS Executive Director, Jason Trepanier.
Super Series
The Super Series is comprised of two major events in the 15U, 16U and 17/18U age categories. Each event is hosted in various locations across the province by local clubs. Teams are grouped based on their final rank after each event. Teams are then re-grouped for the next event with other teams with similar finishes.
The last event’s results are used for seeding at Nova Scotia Championships.
2026-2027 information coming soon.
Super Series Hosting
Volleyball Nova Scotia is looking for clubs interested in hosting a Super Series event.
The main benefits to hosting are:
- Fundraising potential through food concessions and max $2 admission per person
- $45 per participating team if scorers are provided by the host
- $25 per participating team if scorers are not provided by the host
- Opportunity to promote the sport and your club as well as encourage local support
- Minimize travel expenses for your Club teams by staying local to compete
Ideally we’d like to host these events in facilities with 2 or more courts with 8m ceilings and 3m of free space around the court. If you are interested in hosting, please take a few minutes to complete the Hosting Application when available.
NS Champs
Information coming soon.
Open Tournaments
Tripleball
Information coming soon.
Warm Up Policy
Teams will be granted a 5-minute shared court warm up followed by an individual 5-minute team warm up each. The 5 minute warm up will commence once the referee has whistled to instruct teams to shake hands from the previous match.
The coin toss will commence at this time and coaches and team captains will be responsible to ensure their team roster is recorded and verified by signing the score sheet within this 5 minute timeframe.
Team Warm-ups will be conducted using the 5-5-5 format, which is as follows:
5 minutes for players to warm-up on their respective side of the court, 5 minutes to use the full court (traditionally used for spiking and serving practice), 4 minutes to use the space behind the baseline (traditionally used for passing practice).
Warm-up Protocol 7.2.4 Volleyball Canada – In an effort to reduce the incidence of injuries and concussions during warm-up, Volleyball Canada has developed the following warm-up protocol. This protocol is to be followed by all teams during the designated on court warm-up time:
For teams that do not follow the warm-up protocol, the referees will note on the score sheet the non-compliance of the warm-up protocol. The league, PTA, or Volleyball Canada will determine the appropriate sanction.
At the end of the match, teams must vacate the court (playing area and bench area) within one minute of the completion of their match to allow for the next teams playing full access to the court.
Fair Play
- The fair play rule will be applied to the 12U, 13U and 14U age categories for both all genders.
- All players listed on the score sheet must start the first or second set.
- Substitutions are not permitted in the first or second set. In the case of injury, an Exceptional Substitution may be made. The injured/ill player may not return to the same set, but may return to play in subsequent sets. Any line up can be used at the start of the third set. In the third set 12 ‘limited’ substitutions are permitted.
- Any line up can be used at the start of the third set. Teams are strongly encouraged to distribute playing time among all players on the team. Substitution requests can only occur between a three-ball sequence.
- Teams switch sides in the third set once a team reaches 8 points. If this occurs during a three-ball sequence then the switch will be made after the sequence is complete.
- Athletes who are not rostered for that match can participate in warmup, sit on the bench, and may be in uniform.