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Students and coaches press Piedmont to add local beach-volleyball courts
Summary
Piedmont High coaches, parents and students told the Recreation Commission they travel 40+ minutes for beach-volleyball practice; coach Justin Hoover said 72 players signed up for tryouts but only eight could participate, and multiple speakers urged the city to add sand courts locally for equity and participation.
A string of parents, students and coaches urged the Recreation Commission on June 18 to prioritize a set of local sand courts for beach volleyball, saying current travel burdens limit participation and create inequity.
"The problem is we had 72 people register for tryouts and we had only 8 people be able to play," said coach Justin Hoover, who said the program has grown rapidly and that many players cannot commit because of long commutes to practice. Multiple students, including Daisy Tran and Fiona Olsen, described more-than-40-minute one-way drives to practices that forced early school departures and limited rosters.
Parents and community coaches backed the request. Christine Olsen and board member Dave McMurtry urged the commission to consider lower-cost, small-footprint courts as an attainable way to increase access — Coach Hoover noted average court construction costs can be modest compared with major field projects. Speakers asked staff and commissioners to preserve flexible community space and to consider sand courts among the plan’s possible community uses.
Commissioners and staff said the specific plan’s framework leaves room for multiple community uses but cautioned that topography, phasing and funding will determine what can be built. The commission’s approved recommendation to council asked broadly that the City Council look for additional recreation sites as housing proceeds; public commenters said courts should be among the options the council considers.
