As the population of Perry has grown, so has the number of extracurricular activities and athletic teams. One such example of this growth is the newest addition to the athletic program, a sand volleyball team.

According to principal Dan Serrano, “Sand volleyball is an option for schools. It’s on a trial basis from the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA).”

As a result, each individual school is responsible for funding their own program as opposed to other mainstream sports where the district provides the funds. However, all teams will still play under AIA rules.

“We have wanted to start a sand volleyball program for a couple years,” Girls Volleyball Head Coach Fred Mann stated.

Coach Mann has been coaching indoor volleyball for 24 years, four of which have been as girl’s varsity for Perry.

Coach Mann said,”Last year, because we aren’t sanctioned by the AIA, we just did a club team. But this year we got permission through our district to compete in the AIA events.”

The difference between a club team and a school team is that school teams are eligible for the AIA playoffs and championships.

“I’ve kind of been reluctant to do it,” said Serrano,“because we don’t have courts on campus that we can use.” This would makes practicing every day a hassle as a location off campus would need to be confirmed and transportation to that location secured.

As of right now, practices will be held at Seville but there is talk about courts being built closer to Perry on Higley and Queen Creek.

There is no shortage of volleyball talent at Perry. The men’s team was state runners up last year and the girl’s team is currently ranked number one in state. This should be an indicator as to how good we can expect the sand team to be as many of the indoor players will double as sand players.  

Varsity Girls Volleyball player Halle Razo said,“I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how we are compared to other teams and the memories that we will make during the first year.”