Rule meetings saw record attendance, indicating coaches and officials alike are geared up for the new year. The major change for 1997 is rally scoring . Any deciding game of a match shall be rally scored. Rally scoring simply awards a point each time a team's opponent violates a rule, regardless of who has served. This game is not to be rally scored.
Some invitational tournaments play two-game pool matches.
After two games, each team moves on to its next opponent. The second game in this format is not rally scored. One game matches, when played, are not rally-scored. Other significant changes relate to uniforms of officials and players . Officials are required to wear white, polo-type shirts.