The rules of the game are quite flexible and can be adapted to match the skill level of the children involved in the game which is usually rudimentary. Therefore, each national association establishes necessary rules to ensure that the competition remains fair for both competing sides.
In fact, the aim of creating the game is to make volleyball more accessible and to hone the skills of children from a young age. Since expecting them to learn with a standard net is both unrealistic and impossible, this game is one of the developmental tools employed by the FIVB to continually generate fresh generations of Volleyball champs.
Having explained that Mini Volleyball is an offshoot of volleyball aimed at introducing the game to kids, one would expect that there would be some differences in the game to enable kids play it comfortably. These differences go into the deepest recesses of the fabric of the game and are aimed at scaling the game down from adult size to children size.
These differences include:
- Size and type of the ball– the size of a standard volleyball is of course, considerably larger than that used in playing Mini Volleyball. When compared side-by-side, it is observed that one is a scaled down version of the other – or vice versa. The ball used for Mini Volleyball is also observed to be different in feel to its larger sibling. This is because they are specially designed to be gentler on younger hands and reduce the risk of injury.
- Height of the net– Mini Volleyball is for children and young adults which mean that the net has to be designed with consideration for their heights. A standard volleyball net stands at 243 cm for men and 224 cm for women but the net for Mini Volleyball is 190-200 cm for both sexes (FIVB).
- Number of players– the number of players on a volleyball team is always 6 for a standard set but when it is a mini-volleyball game, the number varies between 2 and 6. FIVB manuals have suggested from studies that children get 100% more chance of touching the ball on a 4-man team than they do on a 6-man team. Playing with less than 4 is also noticed to be much more exhausting on the kids than other permutations. Therefore, it is almost always played with 4 players arranged 2 in front and 2 behind.
- Rules– the rules of Mini Volleyball are quite a bit different from what obtains in standard volleyball. The touch rule for example has it that volleyball players on a team cannot make more than three touches while for the mini game, three passes is compulsory. However, they are all based on almost the same premise and scoring is just about done the same way,
On the overall, it is worthy of note that the purpose of Mini Volleyball is to prepare youngsters for the game of volleyball, therefore the rules and everything else about it are geared towards that preparation.