In the Spring of 2016 a new sport has been introduced to Rio Hondo College thanks to the help of Coach Teddi Esko who played a huge role in the development of this new program. In the Fall of 2013 coach Esko approached our Rio Hondo AD and informed him that Sand Volleyball was the new emerging women’s sport at the collegiate level and that CCCAA schools were going to be trialing the sport during the Spring of 2014.

Thankfully, coach Esko who also coaches the Women’s Indoor Volleyball team, was allowed to run a club program that Spring as well as the following, which were both a success. The school then allowed for the development of the program as an intercollegiate one.

The team currently does not have a home court and they practice at Liberty Park in Cerritos on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s and in Huntington Beach on Friday’s when they do not have a match. Conference matches will be hosted at El Camino College.

When asking coach Esko if not having a home court complicates things she replied, “It’s been a challenge yes, however the team is eager to be apart of this new program and are willing to travel to train.” It is very nice to see a team’s dedication and commitment even when facing minor set backs, as this program is still very new to Rio Hondo.

Coach Esko also said that there has been talks of a sand facility being built at Rio Hondo, however nothing is set in stone and the team will simply have to adjust to their current situation as the program continues to grow.

There are a few differences when it comes to traditional indoor volleyball as opposed to sand volleyball, with the first being the size of the courts. In indoor volleyball the court is 30 x 30 feet and in sand volleyball it is 26.3 x 26.3 feet. Score keeping is similar as both scores are rallied, but in sand volleyball they play sets of 21 where as in indoor volleyball they play sets of 25.

Coach Esko says, “From a physical standpoint, the sand game is more challenging, harder to move in the sand, the skills are slightly adjusted to accommodate only two athletes on the court as opposed to indoor with 6. Coaches can only coach during the one time-out that is permitted to the doubles team per set, thus you will not hear any coaching from the sidelines, as you would during an indoor match.”

Sand volleyball is more of a player independent sport in which the doubles players have to self officiate their matches while calling sets, keeping track of the scores, and calling their own time-outs.

When asked if she is excited for this years season and if the team has prepared, coach Esko said, “The Rio Hondo Coaching staff is very excited to be in the inaugural sand season. We have been training the athletes for the past 6 weeks in preparation for competition. Our training has consisted of movement drills on the sand, adjusting our volleyball skills from 6 man to doubles and teaching the game.”

Coach Esko says most of the Rio Hondo volleyball players have not had extensive years in training in the sand game, so there has been a lot of transitioning taking place.

Rio Hondo opened their season against Fullerton on March 4 and had a good match overall as the team played well. Rio Hondo did not beat Fullerton but had a very competitive game against them and will continue to transition into this new style of the game.

Rio Hondo will next travel to Carlsbad and play Palomar and Miracosta on March 11.