EUGENE, Ore.  – Bushnell University Athletic Director Corey Anderson announced on Wednesday that the addition of Women's beach volleyball as a varsity sport has been approved. The Beacons will get their toes in the sand, beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year.
 
"We are excited to announce the addition of beach volleyball into the competitive athletic participation opportunities at Bushnell University," said Athletic Director Corey Anderson. "Beach volleyball is a natural progression sport to grow from our current Beacon volleyball program. While these two programs at first will share a number of student-athletes, the overall goal of beach volleyball will be to carry its own roster during the initial 3-5 years of the program. To be able to add a fast and competitive sport like beach, that will be played outside and with limited participants needed to play, this seemed like the right place at the right time to move forward with this decision. I would like to thank Coach Corwin for his leadership and progressive thinking with this expansion."
 
Beach volleyball becomes the 16th varsity sport at Bushnell, and the first new program since Esports joined the fold in 2018. Bushnell is the second Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) school to add Beach Volleyball and the fourth institution in the state of Oregon to officially offer the sport, joining The University of Oregon, University of Portland, and Corban.
 
Beach volleyball is a spring sport and the Beacons will play their inaugural season in the spring of 2022. The team expects to initially practice and play at Amazon Park in south Eugene.
 
Beach volleyball is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. It is currently in year five of championship status in the NCAA and has benefited from the support of the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) to bring the sport to national prominence in the collegiate ranks.
 
Over 25 NAIA institutions are expected to sponsor Beach Volleyball in the 2020-2021 school year, allowing it to advance from "Emerging Sport" status to "Invitational" status. Once the NAIA achieves a threshold of 40 schools, it will be eligible to become the 28th NAIA National Championship sport.
 
Current head coach Jason Corwin will take on additional duties to oversee both programs while Kim Elgarico has been named the Head Coach for the beach program. Elgarico also serves as an assistant with the indoor team.
 
Corwin said, "I would like to thank the Bushnell athletic department and cabinet for giving us the trust and opportunity to represent our school in another dynamic, growing sport. Associate Athletic Director Sarah Freeman has been a real star, navigating the necessary paperwork and forms to adequately portray what this new program can do for Bushnell.
 
"We have hired an over-qualified beach coach and we are blessed to have Coach Elgarico's expertise and networking to help us be our best right from the start. Thank you coach Kim for believing in this University and this program."
 
Elgarico comes to Bushnell with over 20 years coaching experience at all levels including four years as a head coach at the NAIA level. Her career has taken her from South Carolina to Louisiana with stops in Los Angeles and Texas along the way before settling in Eugene. She is currently a private beach volleyball coach and works with Webfoot, a prominent local volleyball club. From 2006-2009 she was the head coach at La Sierra University, an NAIA program in Riverside, California that, at the time, was transitioning to the NCAA.
 
Coach Elgarico said, "Beach volleyball is an up and coming sport and life style for so many as it can be played for a lifetime. It brings out competition, character, and work ethic in its athletes and creates unbreakable bonds between teammates. I am so excited to be part of the team of coaches in bringing this sport to Bushnell University."
 
The beach volleyball program will join the indoor volleyball program, which brings a lot of momentum into the new season. In the fall of 2019, the Beacons set a program record for victories and advanced for the CCC Semifinals for the first time. While a number of athletes are initially expected to compete on both squads, specific recruiting for the beach volleyball roster is also underway with a goal to build out a stand-alone roster for the program over the next three to four years.