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Cactus Shadows High School held a volleyball camp in early July to gauge interest and were surprised when about 30 boys showed up to play. (Falcons Athletic Club/Submitted)
Cactus Shadows High School held a volleyball camp in early July to gauge interest and were surprised when about 30 boys showed up to play. (Falcons Athletic Club/Submitted)
C actus Shadows High School, well known for its athletic achievements, is adding two new sports to its list of extracurriculars this year: boys volleyball and girls sand volleyball.
“We have a very successful boys volleyball program at the middle school, Sonoran trails, but then it stops. There’s no boys volleyball program and Cactus Shadows High School … I’m a former volleyball player and former volleyball coach,” said Cort Monroe, superintendent of the Cave Creek Unified School District.
“I was actually approached when I was a new hire by some of our boys in the middle school, and they wanted to talk about, ‘how can we get a boys volleyball program at the high school ...’ I really appreciated that and after meeting with the boys and meeting with some parents, now we’re kind of getting that off the ground.”
Lisa Abel was one of those parents. She recently moved to Cave Creek from California, where her son played volleyball. She said he didn’t just play volleyball, though, he loved it; it was his sport. When she found out Cactus Shadows didn’t have a boys volleyball team, she said she reached out to see what could be done. Apparently, other parents had been asking as well, and the ball started rolling.
Abel said they put her to work right away and she is now the sponsorship chair of the Cactus Shadows Athletic Booster Club. The boys volleyball program was approved, but players, a coach, uniforms and equipment were still needed. And, for the new girls sand volleyball sport, an entire sand court needs to be constructed.
However, the athletic program at Cactus Shadows is self-funded. As a completely new sport, there are no reserve funds for boys volleyball and certainly not enough money for a full outdoor sand court. So, Abel, other parents, Cave Creek Unified staff and community members have been hard at work trying to raise money.
“We’ve been raising funds for uniforms, coach stipends, equipment and everything for these two programs,” Abel said. “We also put together a GoFundMe page just for the construction of sand volleyball courts on the campus because we’re looking to kind of put together a club for all of volleyball, boys and girls, with a court and sand so that they can just play after school and refine their skills.”
The sand court won’t be strictly for the girls sand volleyball teams. The volleyball teams currently share the gymnasium with all the other indoor sports, so there are times when they may want to practice but can’t because the court is occupied. Having the sand court will give them a designated place.
Monroe and Abel both said the interest is definitely there. In fact, Cactus Shadows hosted a boys volleyball camp in July that Abel said was only really advertised through social media and by word of mouth. She said she was afraid there would barely be enough boys for a team, but 30 boys showed up to the camp, ranging from incoming freshmen to seniors.
Cactus Shadows is starting with a junior varsity team and building the program, and Monroe said he expects to have a full program running in the next two to three years.
“We want to make sure we can put our kids in a spot to be a part of a successful program, because we know that it builds confidence and builds self esteem,” Monroe said. “Kids learn perseverance, grit and work ethic.”
He added when he was a new hire, he tried to attend at least one match or game of every sport at Cactus Shadows and Sonoran Trails. Seeing how many kids are involved and the parental support, Monroe said he made it a point to focus on taking Cactus Shadows athletics to the “next level.”
In hopes of doing just that, the school district hired a new athletic director, Drew Ammon, in July. Ammon was previously employed at the Queen Creek Unified School District. Coming to Cactus Shadows, he said he hopes to continue the tradition of success and winning the school has become known for. He said even before he was officially hired, he knew getting the boys volleyball and girls sand volleyball programs going was a priority.
“When I got introduced as athletic director, bringing on boys volleyball and beach volleyball was one of the big areas that they wanted to see,” Ammon said. “If it’s important to the kids, it’s important to me, because that’s really what it’s about is our community.”
According to Monroe, sports and other extracurricular activities are very important to students at Cactus Shadows. In fact, he said about a third of the high school students are involved in a sport, and many play multiple sports. Cactus Shadows sports players have won state championships and gone on to play at the collegiate level as well.
Adding boys volleyball and girls sand volleyball are just two more ways for students to have fun, learn and excel.
“It is really exciting,” Monroe said. “I’m really proud of our boys and our parents. It’s really been a labor of love. The community has really come together, the parents, the boys and the school district to work together to get this program off the ground, because we need their help to be able to do it.”
Funding is still needed to help get the programs going. Businesses can purchase a sponsorship package to have a banner hung on the court or direct donations can be made online at the Falcons Athletic Club website by selecting “Volleyball.” Building materials for the sand volleyball courts can also be donated.
Contact sponsorship@falconsathleticclub.org for more information.
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