YOUTH PRIVACY / COPPA

Volleyball.net is built for the volleyball community — including youth athletes as young as 10 who are beginning their club careers. We believe every young athlete deserves a safe, supportive digital environment. Our platform is designed with age-appropriate experiences and strong data protections for all users under 18, with special protections for those under 13.

What is COPPA?

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a U.S. federal law that requires websites to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13.

How We Comply

• We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent
• During registration, users who indicate they are under 13 are directed through a parental consent flow
• A parent or guardian must provide a valid email address and confirm consent before the account is activated
• We send a confirmation email to the parent/guardian with details of what information will be collected
• Parents can review, correct, or delete their child's information at any time

What We Collect from Users Under 13 (With Parental Consent)

• First name and last initial (not full last name)
• Parent/guardian email address (for consent and account management)
• Age range and graduation year (not exact date of birth)
• PACE assessment responses (40 questions — developmental use only)
• Position preference and club affiliation (if provided)

What We Do NOT Collect from Users Under 13

• Full name or exact date of birth
• Home address or phone number
• Social media profiles or handles
• Photos or videos (profile photos are disabled for under-13 accounts)
• Location data beyond state/region

For athletes under 13, we apply stricter data sharing controls:

• PACE results are only shared with coaches if the parent/guardian has explicitly enabled sharing in account settings
• Club directors can see that a young athlete is on their roster, but cannot view PACE details without parental consent
• We do not display targeted advertising to users under 13
• We do not share under-13 data with third parties for marketing purposes
• Aggregated, anonymized data may be used for platform improvement (no individual identification possible)

Parents and guardians of athletes under 13 have the following rights:

• Review: Request a complete copy of all information collected about your child
• Correct: Request that we correct any inaccurate information
• Delete: Request deletion of your child's account and all associated data
• Restrict sharing: Disable PACE result sharing with coaches at any time
• Withdraw consent: Revoke consent at any time, which will result in account deactivation

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected] with your child's account email and your relationship to the child. We will verify your identity and respond within 5 business days.

Athletes between 13 and 17 are not subject to COPPA, but we still apply enhanced protections:

• No targeted advertising based on personal data
• PACE results are shared with coaches only when the athlete explicitly chooses to share
• Parents can request account information for athletes under 18 with appropriate verification
• Recruiting profile features are opt-in and can be disabled at any time

For all youth privacy inquiries, parental consent requests, or data deletion requests: