Men's, Women's & Coed Doubles
The SOB round robin play of the Men's/Women's Doubles tournaments starts with all players in the "main draw", regardless of skill level. Since the format is a round robin, participants need not bring a partner...we pair everyone up and put you into seeded pools. Guests will play multiple rounds with as many as 30 different partners over the course of the week, including AVP pros. At the end of each doubles tournament, the top 4 players in 3 separate divisions (M/W Division 1 aka Anejo, M/W Division 2 aka Reposado, M/W Division 3 aka Blanco) are battling it out in the SOB Finals!
During the first day of competition, players are assigned to a net for the opening session of round robin play (King/Queen of the Beach). Players are seeded on each net with various different skill levels represented. (Open, AA, A, BB, B). Upon the completion of this round, the players will advance to 1 of 3 divisions.
Once divisions are established, players are re-seeded into new pools with new partners for each subsequent round. Each player will once again play with each participant on their net. Players will continue advancing through rounds, and eventually eliminations will start after round of 16 on four nets, then down to the elite 8 on two nets, then the final 4 players will compete in the final on center court in front of the SOB Crowd for each division.
In 2009, the SOB Crew added a COED doubles tournament to the Puerto Vallarta Trip. The format worked great and has since been added to all the trips, with pairings created by doubles results. So once again, you don't need to bring a partner.....we have you covered. In Ixtapa this is for players not making the sweet 16 of the Men's and Women's 2's.
Coed 4x4 Tournament
The 4x4 coed tournament consists of a ladder format that allows for plenty of volleyball with up to 200 partners while getting acclimated to humidity, heat and deep Mexican Sand. There are two rounds the first evening and morning, with 4 games per round.
The 4x4 coed tournament format is simple. Each player is ranked according to their skill levels and is then paired with a coed partner of similar skills to form a pair/couple (previous visitors will be ranked based on past productivity.) Each couple will be paired with another couple to form a foursome. Each foursome is assigned to a net, with the more advanced players on the higher nets (1,2,3, etc.) and the recreational players on the lower nets (17, 18, 19, etc.,) everyone else is spread between. The teams then advance up the ladder (toward net 1) if they win a match or down the ladder (towards net 20) if they lose a match. Furthermore, each time a foursome arrives at a new net they swap couples with their new opponents to create new teams of four. To enable people to get better acquainted, you'll receive a new partner for the 2nd day
Over the two rounds of 4's competition, each participant will play with approximately 18 different people. This means that by the end of the 4x4 tournament each player will have not only met a bunch of players, but as a result of the format they will have met players of similar skill levels, thus setting the stage for pickup play later in the week and a full dance card every night on the town!