FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ORLANDO, Fla. (June 11, 2026) – The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is prepared to hose the annual AAU Junior Volleyball National Championships from June 16 to July 10, 2026, at the award-winning Orange County Convention Center (OCCC). Over the course of the 24-day event, there will be an expected $760.8 million in economic impact brought to Central Florida based on 300,000 estimated attendees. 

The 2025 event set a new benchmark for the largest sporting event ever held at the OCCC while continuing to hold the Guiness Book of World Records mark for the largest volleyball event in the world, a record held since 2012. This year, an estimated 6,000 teams (girls and boys), including a strong collection of 625 Central Florida teams, will travel to Orlando to compete for a national championship.

“It’s such an honor and privilege to work with our community partners to bring the world’s largest volleyball event to life each year,” said Jo Mirza, AAU President. “Without Orange County Convention Center, Greater Orlando Sports Commission, and Visit Orlando, we wouldn’t be able to host the premier event for AAU’s largest sport so seamlessly.”

The world’s largest volleyball tournament will play host to nearly 100,000 athletes from 48 different states, as well as teams traveling internationally from British Columbia, Guam, Ontario, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Over the course of 24 days, these athletes will represent their hometowns at the AAU Girls’ and Boys’ Junior National Volleyball Championships. 

Since 2017, this premier AAU event has been recognized as a nine-time consecutive Champion of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism by Sports Destination Magazine and has cemented its status in their “Hall of Fame” category. Last year’s event was also awarded the Most Anticipated Sporting Event to Watch by SportsEvents Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards.

“The OCCC is proud to once again host the record-breaking AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships, a signature event that highlights the incredible scale and impact of youth sports across the nation,” said OCCC Executive Director Mark Tester. “This tournament exemplifies the type of large, dynamic events our center is uniquely equipped to support, and we look forward to welcoming athletes, coaches and families from around the world to our community.”

The 53rd AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships will feature six waves of age groups with the girls’ tournament starting off on June 16 and running through the completion with the boys’ event on July 10.  The girls’ event will feature divisions from 10U to 18U with the boys showcasing athletes in divisions from 12U to 18U. Seventy-six (76) total championship winning teams will add their names to the history books as AAU Junior National Volleyball champions. 

To find more information about which divisions are competing during which wave, please visit https://aausports.org/volleyball/2026-girls-aau-nationals/ for the girls’ national championship, or https://aausports.org/volleyball/2026-boys-aau-nationals/ for the boys’ national championship.

All championship games will be streaming live and on replay globally on AAU’s new streaming platform, AAU+. Fans will be able to watch games from anywhere around the world on AAUPlus.org, or on streaming devices.

Beyond the court, the AAU is pleased to partner with Side-Out Foundation as a part of the AAU Cares initiative to raise money for breast cancer research through “Dig Pink” campaigns. All participants will be encouraged to wear pink during the event to show support. 

Visit www.aausports.org/volleyball for more information on the event schedule. You can also follow the event on AAU Volleyball’s social media pages: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Troy MacNeill, AAU Marketing Manager
o: 407-828-3055 | e: troy@aausports.org

Katarina Dos Santos, OCCC Marketing & Communications Manager
o: 407-685-5796 | e: Katarina.DosSantos@occc.net

ABOUT THE AAU:

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is the largest, non-profit, event-driven multi-sports organizations in the country. Founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in sports, the AAU philosophy of “Sports For All, Forever” is now shared by nearly 1,000,000 members and 150,000 volunteers across 45 sports programs and 55 U.S. districts annually. Volleyball is the largest sport in the AAU with more than 306,000 members. For more information, visit www.aausports.org.

ABOUT THE ORANGE COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER:

The award-winning Orange County Convention Center provides approximately $3.9 billion in economic impact to Central Florida annually. In recent years, the Convention Center has averaged nearly 200 events, including 115 conventions and tradeshows that attract more than 1.5 million attendees to the region each year. For more information about the Orange County Convention Center, visit www.occc.net.