Winter Haven High School Beach Volleyball looks to continue its first year success and build new beach volleyball courts on the campus of Winter Haven High School. Being one of the premier indoor programs in Polk County, the expectations were high when beach volleyball became an officially sanctioned FHSAA sport for the first time last year. With a record of 16-1 and a trip to FSU in Tallahassee to play in the state tournament, the Blue Devils may have exceeded the expectations of many, but not that of head coach Dylan Sechrest, “I expected us to win every match we played.” Sechrest said.
Winter Haven will return most of the core of last year’s team including 13 of the 16 players and of 8 of the top 10 players. While they will need to replace three seniors from last year’s team, there are a number of young, talented, and eager players ready to step in and produce immediately. The season begins February 5th; to say the Blue Devils are excited to hit the sand is an understatement. That excitement is matched only by their excitement to build beach courts on their home campus. Having a home court would further separate Winter Haven Volleyball from other programs in the county. There are so few beach courts for the high schools to share and no Polk County school has beach courts on campus. Currently, they have to practice and play at the Polk State College Winter Haven Beach Courts. This creates a lot of challenges for the emerging program. From transporting equipment daily, to facilities, to monitoring who is coming to the matches, and so much more, the time to build courts on campus is now! Winter Haven High School and county officials are in the late planning stages of building the courts and look to begin construction in February.
Anyone who wishes to help either financially, with products, or expertise is encouraged to email [email protected]. It’s an exciting time to be a part of Winter Haven Volleyball!
