Sand Volleyball Has Shot at Becoming Varsity Sport

Paul Steinbach Headshot

Col1 Ab 1008 A funny thing happened on the way to The Swamp. As University of Florida football fans trekked toward the Gators' annual spring game April 12, hundreds of them couldn't help but notice dozens of women representing 11 Southeastern Conference volleyball teams paired up and pounding UF's sand courts during the first SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships. Some pedestrians had to be pulled away from the event in favor of football. Others returned from the stadium with tailgate chairs in tow, just to see how it ended. Crowds grew to the point that traffic control personnel on hand for the Blue and Orange Game began focusing their attention on the kinetic activity surrounding the seven sand volleyball courts down the street.

"I ended up watching spectators a lot, because I was trying to see just how interested people were," says Debbie Corum, the SEC's associate commissioner for sports administration. "I was absolutely amazed by how many people stopped. Cars were honking their horns. It was one of those things where you were just excited that you had been part of watching the first one."

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