The Tigers, Marana High School’s girls beach volleyball team, will no longer have to travel to practice. Thanks to the generous donations of JW Civic LLC and Dorado Rock and Materials, a court is being built right on Marana High’s property. Look beyond the swimming pool and any visitor will see some heavy construction equipment and a big pile of sand.

On June 12, the ground was broken.

This is something head coach Steve Davis has been asking for for the last four years because prior to this the team has had to practice at Crossroads at Silverbell District Park.

However, the ones who are really looking forward to the completion of the court are the athletes themselves.

Kayla Arenarez, Class of 2028, is one of those athletes.

“I am honestly beyond grateful that we have the opportunity to have our own courts on campus and that we don’t have to drive all the way over to Crossroads to play every single day,” she said. “Hopefully soon or sometime in the near future we can get these courts AIA (Arizona Interscholastic Association) officiated so we can have games here.”

Arenarez’s volleyball partner on the court is Addison Lee, Class of 2027. She, too, is looking forward to playing on her own home court but understands she won’t be playing on home court tomorrow.

“We have a long while,” she said. 

Still, Lee knows she will get to play there before she graduates, “thankfully,” she said.

The team is actually pretty good, missing being able to play in the state competition by one game. The Tigers’ record last season was 8-2.

Athletic director at Marana High School Amie Cormell said her first goal as director was to provide better opportunities for the school’s athletes. She saw the need for the courts and began working to get them. It was a mountainous task.

“I did not know what that entailed,” she said. “But I sure have found out and almost a year later here we are about to break ground.”

It took a lot of building community relationships.

JW Civil LLC, owned by Mountain View High School graduate Jacob Wareham, provided a lot of the foundational work for this project.

He provided the blue prints and design, engineering expertise, drainage planning, site prep, court perimeter, labor and materials.

“This project simply does not happen without Jake Wareham and JW Civil,” Cormell said.  

Also making the court possible is Dorado Rock and Materials with a donation of 883 tons of specialized beach sand.

“You would not believe how expensive sand is specifically for (this),” she said. “It has to be a very specific and fine sand. … I can’t thank them enough for their generosity. This doesn’t happen without sand.” 

Organizers expect the courts to be ready by about September of this year. The next beach volleyball season begins in February.