Beach volleyball is arguably the fastest-growing NCAA sport in history and here on the Central Coast, it’s growing rapidly at the high school level.
“Now I think you're going to get more people coming to watch," said Jordan Gann, Santa Ynez Valley Union High School senior beach volleyball.
Six years in the making, four brand-new beach volleyball courts were unveiled Tuesday at Santa Ynez High School.
“These are state-of-the-art," said Santa Ynez Head Coach Melissa Rogers. "You will not find a nicer complex than this at any high school. They're incredible.”
The project was made possible by Santa Ynez alumni and the Santa Ynez Pirate Foundation with construction funded solely through donations.
“I think the neat thing about this project is 100% all these contractors are all alumni," Santa Ynez Athletic Director Josh McClurg explained. "They went to school here and played sports here, they've donated things before in the past, so I think it's pretty neat in like a grassroots type of movement or project.”
From the start of winter break to the first weekend in February, the facility was completed and ready for competition. The sand alone cost as much as $147,000 with 70 truckloads of sand needed to fill the area.
“If you have first-class facilities, you get first-class competition and you have first-class results," said Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District Superintendent Kimberly Sheehan.
When Rogers started the beach volleyball program at the high school in 2012, it only had six kids and they practiced in her backyard. But in the last four years, it’s become a CIF-sanctioned sport and now she has 22 kids on her roster with new programs and facilities popping up around the Central Coast.
“It's been a lot more open in the past year to all athletes," Gann said of the growth.
“Now we're working towards state championships. That'll be the next step for us," Rogers said.
