Women’s Beach Volleyball is back at Fullerton College as athletes return to campus in preparation for the spring season.

Megan Glennie, coach of the Beach Volleyball team, worked hard to keep the team together during COVID-19 and continues to do so as the team returns to campus.

The Beach Volleyball team will be competing with the CCCAA in the Orange Empire Conference, one of the toughest conferences in the state of California. Many other schools have opted out of competing this spring.

Coaches will meet this week to solidify the scheduling and decide how many games are going to be played. It looks as though the season is going to be cut short because of the difficulty in finding a venue and dealing with protocols.

It is undecided where the volleyball games are going to be held. Coach Glennie hopes they will be held on campus, but says that it is more likely the competitions will be held at Huntington Beach.

The volleyball court at Fullerton College is considered unsafe because the sand is too close to the concrete surrounding the court.

There is an importance to having sports competitions in these challenging times because it helps improve students’ mental health, Glennie said.

Instead of going to practice and seeing their teammates, student-athletes had a lot of free time on their hands with nothing to do during the lockdown.

Some became unmotivated and lost sight of their goals. Now that sports are back, they can go back to practicing, training, and competing.

It teaches you to compete and work hard for your spot and if you don’t get that spot it teaches you to overcome obstacles and challenges. “There’s all of these different things that you learn as an athlete that will also translate once you’re done,” Glennie said.

The team says health and injury prevention are the number one goals this year because almost an entire year without conditioning or playing creates concern for injury.

Pam Lewin, the Head Coach of the Women’s Lacrosse team, says that two full-time Athletic Trainers are available along with additional part-time Athletic Trainers.

Their job is to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes. They also deal with the necessary paperwork that is required to be filled out by students.

Each day when the students come onto campus, they are screened and must sign paperwork to ensure they are free of the virus.

The team is unable to share volleyballs during the first week. Two girls are allowed to share one ball with each other, which they are able to practice with on the court. The second week will allow for a little more leeway and the third week the team will be allowed to scrimmage, according to Glennie.

The women’s volleyball team was able to meet on Zoom during lockdown which helped keep the team together and motivated. They would read books, do individual breakout rooms, and workout together to keep the team connected.

One player, Faith Webb, says they do not use the word “team”. Instead, they use the word “family”.

Now, the team meets on campus at the volleyball court Monday through Thursday each week to practice.

Coach Glennie remarked that being a woman in sports is important to her because she gets to empower other females and help them achieve their goals every day.

She always wanted to be in a career where she could have a positive impact on others, and that is exactly what she is doing with the women’s beach volleyball team.

Since becoming the coach of the Hornets, Glennie has led the team to the playoffs consecutively with an all-inclusive score of 31-19.

“It is good to show that women are just as strong as men,” says Alexa Houser, a Hornet Beach Volleyball player.

For these women, it is important to show that females can work hard and be successful in sports.

“Being a female athlete is something you’re able to take with you after volleyball,” Glennie added.