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Cool Classes: Sand Volleyball

Kaci Black serves one up in the sand.

It’s Chucky Pham’s fifth time taking a volleyball course at Salt Lake Community College. With her second time taking the “sand” version of the class, it’s the seventh go at volleyball for Naomi Garrow.

Even the blowing sands on a windy summer day don’t discourage the pair from at least trying to tough it out sans their shoes. “I just love volleyball,” says Pham, 24, of Taylorsville. “It’s such a fun sport.” He earned his associate’s degree from SLCC a few years ago and is currently pursuing a four-year degree to become a math teacher. Garrow, 21, graduated in May from SLCC with a degree in political science and works at the Utah State Capitol during the legislative session – her first job there was through an internship she landed while at SLCC. “It’s just a good break from everyday classes,” says the future law student.

McKell Oldbull practices proper form in her sand volleyball class.

Their teacher for the class is Julie Morgan, the real deal when it comes to volleyball. Morgan was inducted into the Illinois State University Athletics Hall of Fame for her winning ways while at ISU as a head coach. Morgan’s classes, each worth one credit under SLCC’s Lifelong Wellness program, accept high school and college students, from the completely inexperienced to the likes of Pham and Garrow, who outclass most skill levels on the court most days.

McKell Oldbull, originally from the Hualapai Indian reservation in Peach Springs, Arizona, played volleyball in high school. “It’s something to occupy my time during the summer and meet new friends,” says Oldbull, 23, a criminal justice major at SLCC who someday wants to be an attorney for her tribe in Arizona and her mother’s here in Utah. Her mother is also a graduate of SLCC.

Chucky Pham has taken volleyball for credit five times.

Kaci Black, 22, is one of several volleyball students who have formed teams that compete separately from SLCC. “This is a way to get credit,” she says about taking the class. Black had two family members die of cancer, motivation for her pre-med track toward becoming an oncologist. On track to becoming an airline pilot, Peter Landry, 22, says volleyball at SLCC is a passion he only “stumbled” upon. “It was just something I had never done before,” Landry says. “So, I figured why not. It’s something new and I’m clueless about it.”

On a wind-whipped day, however, everyone quickly got a clue and moved indoors, at first to dig sand out of their ears and noses, and then to resume playing a sport they love – for college credit.


A group of students from Julie Morgan's sand volleyball course.

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