BY BARRY PUNZAL, PRESIDIOSPORTS.COM
It looked like a typical Santa Barbara day — guys playing volleyball in deep, golden sand on a warm afternoon.
But there was something geographically different about this scene. This wasn’t East Beach. In fact, it wasn’t the beach at all.
This sand volleyball action was taking place in Hope Ranch at Laguna Blanca School.
Laguna Blanca held the first match on its newly constructed and beautifully designed sand courts on Tuesday, playing against Santa Barbara.
The three-court facility, which cost around $96,000, is situated next to the tennis courts that were completed last spring, in an area that used to be the baseball infield — a conversion from the sandlot to sand courts.
Mike Biermann, the Laguna Blanca athletic director, said the idea of putting in the sand courts came from boys volleyball coach Dillan Bennett, who is also a AAA-rated beach volleyball player.
“It started when Dillan came up and said, ‘We got a lot of wasted space out there and we don’t have a baseball team anymore,’” said Biermann of the conversation. “We knew (beach volleyball) was an up-and-coming sport, with the girls playing on the beach (in the spring). It was just a matter of finding a little more space than we had. We found after measuring 3-4 times that they would fit.”
Biermann also found the money to pay for it.
“We had a very generous parent donor that said, ‘If you’re real serious, I’ll fund the courts for you.’ From that point on, it was a go.”
He got the approval from the school administration and the Hope Ranch community, which was a big hurdle to clear.
“There was no fight from Hope Ranch at all,” Biermann said.
Brian Zimmerman, a Laguna Blanca parent and owner of Zimmerman Construction, donated his time to build the facility, Biermann said.
Bennett said the reaction from the boys and girls volleyball programs and their supporters has been great.
“They ate it up,” he said.
Before ground was broken, Bennett sought the advice of Todd Rogers, the 2008 Olympics gold medalist in sand volleyball and a San Marcos High and UCSB alum.
“I went out and asked him because he built a sand court in his backyard and he’s very good at putting courts together,” Bennett said. “He has a great vision of things. He knew where to get the sand and what equipment to use. His expertise was very valuable in the process.”
The sand was hauled in from Guadalupe.
Laguna Blanca will now play its matches on campus — the boys in the fall and the girls in the spring. Laguna Blanca previously played in AAU-organized beach tournaments on Saturdays.
“We’re not going through the AAU like we used to,” Biermann said. “We’ll schedule are own matches against all the teams in the area and down in the LA area. Dillan has a full 10-game schedule.”
While volleyball is his primary focus, Bennett pointed out that the sand area will be used by other athletic teams on campus.
“There’s nothing we can’t do in the sand,” he said. “The football team can run through it, the soccer team can practice in it; there’s beach volleyball and beach tennis. It’s more of a sand facility rather than a sand volleyball facility.”
Just remember to bring socks on a hot day.
