Volleyball Rules in Elementary School

Volleyball is a popular recreational sport often introduced to students during elementary school, but played by persons of all ages. Although being the same game as competitive volleyball, the rules are often more basic to allow players to enjoy the game and first learn how to play. For most elementary schools, it is a recreational sport introduced to encourage being physically active, but also develop skills for working in teams.

  1. Number of Players/Serving the Ball

    • Rules for elementary school volleyball allow for six players on each side---three in the front row and three in the back row. Each member of the team has an opportunity to serve the ball to the other team, and when a turn is up, the group rotates in a clockwise fashion to allow another to serve. Each server has three opportunities to get the ball over the net or face losing a point. The serve must also occur behind the end line.

    Boundaries

    • Teams score a point if the ball contacts the floor or if the other team receiving the ball knocks it out of bounds. Balls that are considered out of play are: balls that hit an antennae on the net; any ball that hits the floor outside the court; hits the referee stand or pole; or makes contact with the ceiling above the court. But, if a ball in play drops and makes contact within the boundary lines, it is considered in bounds.

    Ball Contacts Per Side

    • During game play, each side is allowed to contact the ball three times before the ball must clear the net to the other side. Contact must be by different players, and one player cannot contact the ball on consecutive times. If one player contacts the ball more than once, play stops and the other team scores a point. Blocking an attempt by the other team is not considered a contact and the blocking team still has three attempts to get the volleyball back over the net. Also, players are allowed to use any part of their bodies to volley the ball back to the other side. This is helpful for elementary school games when the players are learning how to make contact.