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Beach volleyball is a sport played by almost four million people nationwide, with over 50 million players in the world, including 48 Olympians since the sport was included in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics (Wikipedia). However, the CIF, or California Interscholastic Federation, still has not incorporated boys beach volleyball to be an acknowledged sport in California schools.
Despite being namesakes, beach and indoor volleyball are actually very dissimilar in many ways, some of which may have contributed to the CIF’s decision. Freshman Otis Yevdayev said, “It’s kind of a completely different sport in the way that a lot of things that you do in indoor volleyball will be called in outdoor volleyball.” Yevdayev is part of the boys beach volleyball club associated with MBHS, which was founded only last year by Shelby Frey, or Coach Sheebs to her players. According to Yevdayev, “One thing that makes our team unique is the relationship we have with our coach. We trust her a lot and she’s a really good coach.” Coaching can make or break a team, and fortunately for Morro Bay boys beach volleyball, Coach Sheebs continues to have a significant positive impact on them.
These capable qualities from Coach Sheebs aren’t just recognized by her players; her effect is further reflected in all three of the boys’ recent tournaments, in which “everybody won their first game,” said Yevdayev. He said that he believes this to be the team’s proudest moment since the season started.
Although the boys beach volleyball team may be on a winning streak, it’s hard to know whether that is because of a good, established program, or just because of the players and coaches in it. Many people, including Yevdayev and his teammates, agree that the program’s main areas for improvement are to get, “More people or more organized,” according to Yevdayev. Advancing in the organization of the program may allow players to not only play better and have better equipment, but also have more recognition. And even though awareness for the program from the school (and their website) would contribute, the only way to really get boys beach volleyball to be a recognized school sport is to go through the CIF.
Although it can be assumed that many individuals including players, coaches, parents, and even spectators would be thrilled to give boys a chance to really play in beach volleyball, unfortunately it may be out of their hands to get it approved to be a sport in schools in California. However, innovators and leaders like Shelby Frey and Dustin Limon, players on the boys team, and many others in the program are the reason boys at Morro Bay High School are able to compete and win in the sand.
Sources: CIF, Wikipedia
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