Nearly two months ago the Arizona Interscholastic Association's executive board approved the launch of girls sand volleyball as a two-year pilot program for member schools interested in adding an extra girls sport.

The launch is on schedule with eight schools on board with the program so far and room for more according to AIA tournament coordinator David Hines, who oversees the sport.

"We have eight schools right now, and there is still time for schools that want to participate to be added," Hines said. "We will put together a 10-12 game schedule for each school and an end of the year tournament for schools participating. We will have schedules by the end of January."

Schools committed to play so far are Xavier, Goldwater, Valley Vista, North Pointe Prep, Westwind Prep, Sandra Day O'Connor, Tuba City and Youngker. Practice begins the week of February 6 and the season begins the final week of February. The season will run until mid-April, culminatiing with the end of the year tournament. The end of the year tournament will not be sanctioned as a state tournament during the pilot period.

Schools need rosters of at least 10-12 players. Each school submits lineups of five two-player teams. Final results will be scored like badminton and tennis. Matches are best two-out-of three to 25. A winning final  score would be 5-0, 4-1 or 3-2.