WASHINGTON — New rules are coming to the volleyball courts in West Potomac Park.
The National Park Service says starting July 6, reservations for the courts will be available no more than seven days in advance and each person can reserve a maximum of four courts each day. The fee is $30 per two-hour timeframe.
A few courts will be reserved for warm-up or practicing and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Earlier this year, a group of local volleyball players said the park service quietly instituted a permit and play process that put an end to decades of free play on a national park.
Zach Welch was one of the people who pushed back when the park service instituted the new rules earlier this year. Welch who runs D.C. Social’s volleyball league.
“I know it created a headache for a lot of people — people who still wanted to use the courts without a reservation for free, like it used to be,”
In years past, four of the courts were available weekdays on a first come, first served basis, while six were reserved for league play. On weekends, all 10 courts were open to the public.
The National Park Service says it reviewed 489 comments on previously proposed changes before arriving at its decision.
“These changes come after considerable input from and dialogue with the volleyball community during the civic engagement process,” said National Mall and Memorial Parks Acting Superintendent Karen Cucurullo in a news release.
“We are confident these adjustments to the reservation procedures will provide for more equitable use of the court space for league and open play alike.”
Reservations under this new system can be made at recreation-dot-gov beginning at 12 a.m. July 6.
