Players representing SandYard Youth Beach Volleyball, based in Doylestown, competed in the AVP East Coast Championships in Clearwater, Fla., in late November.
After earning bids to the championships this summer, four SandYard doubles teams – an 18U girls team, 15U girls team, 14U girls team and 16U boys team – made the trek to the Sunshine State, where they competed against teams from across the country, with SandYard’s 14U team winning the bronze medal in the Bronze Bracket.
The eight SandYard players who competed in the AVP East Coast Championships are: Giuliana Ross, Gabriela Ross, Lily Maria Rivera, Summer Darling, Jacque Rizzuto, El Means, Joshua James Cook and Jacobi Johansen.
NCAA beach volleyball, said SandYard coach Melinda Cozza, is one of the fastest growing sports. Beginning in 2011 as a club sport with only 15 teams, there were 92 NCAA-affiliated teams in 2023. SandYard, one of the only beach clubs in Pennsylvania, grew from 20 core players in 2022 to 80 players in 2023, she added.
This year SandYard will team up with USAV, the pipepline orgnization to Team USA, and AVP to provide beach volleyball training and tournaments in Doylestown, Cozza said, noting that Team USA has a 19U team, 21U team and a 23U team that travel internationally, competing in their age divisions.
“Our travel team plans to travel to areas as far as Cananda to compete next season,” Cozza added.
“My mission with SandYard Volleyball is to grow the sport in our area. Seeing the players fall in love with this lifelong sport really brings a lot of joy into my life. We have had a lot of support from the Doylestown Borough, Redline Athletics (they help with conditioning) and AVP pros like Chase Frishman, Chris Vaughan, Tomas Goldsmith and Nolan Albrecht. We have such a great community.”
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