Local high school girls are heading to the beach. For the first time, beach volleyball is a girls varsity sport in Collier County Public Schools.
Mark Rosenbalm, supervisor of interscholastic athletics and student activities for CCCPS, was the force behind adding this sport in the district.“ Anytime we can give the opportunity for more students to be involved in a sport, we always look to do that,” Rosenbalm said.
Rosenbalm wanted to ensure there was enough interest before adding beach volleyball to the varsity agenda, so he made it a club sport five years ago before bumping it up to varsity this year.
“After we saw enough interest in the sport, I was eager to have it,” he stressed.
Since this is the first season, most high schools don’t have outdoor sand courts.
The new Aubrey Rogers High School has two courts, and Gulf Coast High School has just one. The other schools use off-campus facilities, but CCPS plans to build beach volleyball courts at all the high schools. Most of the participants already play indoor volleyball and are excited to have more chances to improve their skills on the sand.“It is a lot different than indoor [volleyball], but it is a lot of fun,” said Ava Wall, a freshman at ARHS. “You are in the sun, and it is calming. I love volleyball, and I want to get recruited and play in college, so any chance to play is great.”
“It helps with your verticals,” explained ARHS freshman Addison Nicholl. “It makes it a lot easier for indoor.”
The girls have a rigorous schedule. They practice for two hours daily after school and have matches two afternoons a week.
Grant Matthews, the head coach at Aubrey Rogers, is excited to build a new varsity sport from the ground up.
“I love that everyone is growing and learning together,” he said “Everyone is learning, not just the players, but [also] the coaches and the parents. That can be a challenge. Sometimes, it is frustrating because it is a new sport.” Plus, there are other obstacles to overcome, such as heat, wind, and sand.
Even with the challenges, Matthews loves being part of beach volleyball in Collier County.
“Indoor is more position oriented,” he explained. “In this game, you use your brain and put a ball in the spot where [your opponents] are not. I like that you don’t have to be tall and strong. You can be quick and fast and have good ball control to excel.”
There are 14 girls on the ARHS team this year. In beach volleyball, only two players at a time play on the court.
“One of my biggest coaching challenges is getting them to love this sport as much as I love this sport,” Matthews said. “It is a lot of hard work.” He has to find the balance between “working them so they get better, but not working them so much that they don’t like it.”
Jordan Martinez and Annie Pierre are juniors at IHS and are loving beach volleyball.
“I love the teamwork,” Annie stressed. “It is more intense than regular volleyball. You get to connect with the other player on a whole different level. You really work together as a team.”
“It gives more girls a chance to come out and play a sport they have never played before,” Jordan added.
Beach volleyball was first played in the United States in the 1920s, but its popularity was mainly limited to Hawaii and California. It became an Olympic sport in 1996 and an NCAA sport in 2015. Three-time Olympic gold medal winners (2004, 2008, and 2012) Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings helped solidify the popularity of beach volleyball in the United States.
The Florida High School Athletic Association first recognized beach volleyball four years ago as a high school sport. It is one of 17 varsity sports offered at the high school level in Collier County. Rosenbalm said there are no plans to add boys beach volleyball since FHSAA does not sanction the sport for boys.
Rosenbalm said the county has considered boys' beach volleyball in the past but that the interest level was not high enough to warrant its addition as a varsity sport.
But he has high hopes for the girls’ teams.
“We are a very competitive county in volleyball, and I believe we will be very competitive in beach volleyball on the state level as well.”
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