Ella’s journey into beach volleyball began casual- ly, playing in a few tournaments with her indoor teammates. Initially, it wasn’t about competition; she simply enjoyed the game. “I just really liked how beach volleyball is just you and your partner,” she explains. Unlike indoor volleyball, where her role as a libero limited her to passing, beach volleyball allowed her to engage in all aspects of the game— passing, setting, and hitting. Being outdoors only deepened her love for the sport. “Especially here, where it’s the birthplace of beach volleyball, it really gave me the opportunity to love it even more and experience it while I was growing up,” Ella reflects. Ella says Outrigger Coach Danny Alvarez has been a pivotal figure in her development as a beach volleyball player. “He’s definitely one of the best Ella spends as much me on the OCC courts as possible before heading to the Central Coast of California.
A lot of it is her work ethic and her ability to exe- cute the skills. Hard work pays off, and I think she’s shown that.”
playing their respective sport in college. “Actually signing really just made me realize all the hard work that went into it, and it just really felt good at that moment,” Ella says. This event marked the culmination of years of dedication and eort, made even more special by the presence of her family and friends from the Outrigger community. Inspired by the Club’s legacy of athletic excel- lence and driven by her competitive nature, Ella is looking forward to playing in college under Head Coach Todd Rogers, an Olympian himself, on the NCAA Division I team. She follows in the footsteps of Outrigger beach volleyball Olympians and Olym- pic hopefuls she admired throughout her childhood, such as Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb. “It’s just really inspiring to have people that came from the same place as me out there–in the Olympics–and doing really well,” Ella says. “With all the opportunities that Outrigger provides for athletics, it just makes me really grateful.”
coaches I’ve ever had just because of the way he runs practices and how supportive he is,” Ella says. “He’s just really helped me learn how to be calm on the court, and I think that’s something really important in a beach coach.” Having coached Ella from a young age, Alva- rez has witnessed her evolution into a formidable college-level player firsthand. Seeing her prog- ress over the years fills him with immense pride. “I’ve been coaching a lot of professionals, and I’ve coached at the college level, and Ella is able to work through the process at that same level–which is amazing for such a young athlete,” Alvarez says. Ella often steps in as a fourth member to assist during the beach volleyball coach’s college and professional practices, demonstrating her ability to hold her own. “A lot of it is her work ethic and her ability to execute the skills,” Alvarez notes. “Hard work pays o, and I think she’s shown that.”
july / august 2024 | AMA
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