About
Welcome to Walker Beach! Across the country beach volleyball is evolving from a recreational to a competitive sport at the junior and collegiate levels. Our goal is to provide Tucson athletes with the proper training and fundamentals required to succeed in this emerging sport. Not only will beach volleyball skill work help you become a better player in the sand but it can also benefit your indoor game. We will provide a full beach season for beach-only players as well as a “dual” athlete training program with a flexible schedule, allowing those who play indoor club volleyball to have access to beach volleyball without compromising any indoor obligations. Players will range from beginners to experienced beach players. No beach experience or partner is necessary, just the willingness to work hard and learn. Beach Volleyball gives athletes the chance to practice and perform all skills and become a confident, well rounded volleyball player.
Coaching Staff
Steve Walker - Owner, Head Coach
2016 PAC-12 Beach Volleyball Coach of the Year Steve Walker, who served as the Wildcat's indoor volleyball associate head coach, is currently the beach volleyball program's first head coach after the inaugural sport was announced in January 2013. In just his second season he lead the Beach Volleyball team to an 18-3 record and Top 10 National ranking and was the only University that received two pair invites to the AVCA Pairs Championships in Gulf Shores, AL. The Wildcats represented well, returning from the championships with a 3rd place finish and 2 All-Americans. In 2016 Walker led the Beach team to the first ever NCAA National Championship where they finished 5th, produced 2 All-Americans for the second straight year and he was named PAC-12 Coach of the Year. Walker served as an assistant coach with the Wildcats for three seasons from 2003-05, helping to lead the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2005. He left Arizona after the 2005 season to become the women's volleyball head coach at UC Davis, where he has coached for two seasons before returning to Arizona in 2007. Walker received his "AAA" rating, the highest level pro/am rating as a player in the California Beach Volleyball Association series from 1997-99, and multiple times he was an Arizona Beach Volleyball Association tournament winner from 2003-06. A collegiate volleyball player at Long Beach State, Walker finished his career as the school's all-time leader in assists per game. The starting setter for two seasons, he was named AVCA All-America and All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 1995, after leading the NCAA in assists and assists per game. Walker was selected to play for the U.S. at the World University Games in 1995 and was the team captain for Arizona's back-to-back NIRSA club national championship teams in 1999 and 2000. He was named the MVP at the 2000 championship event. Walker is also a four-time bronze medalist at the U.S. Volleyball Open Adult Championships. A native of Newport Beach, Calif., Walker graduated from Long Beach State with a degree in kinesiology in 1996 and received his M.A. in teaching and teacher education from Arizona in 2000. He resides in Tucson with his family, wife, Melissa and two kids, Marley and Brady. |
Melissa Walker - Owner, Director, Head Coach
Melissa Walker is currently "retired" from the college coaching ranks while she has taken on her new role as CEO of the Walker household and working with young volleyball athletes in the Tucson community. Previously Melissa worked as an assistant for the beach volleyball team and indoor volleyball team (2010-2013) at the University of Arizona. She has also served as an assistant coach at Long Beach State and the University of Iowa. Walker was a former player for Long Beach State (1997-2000) and was a member of the 1998 National Championship team that was the first NCAA team to successfully complete an undefeated season (36-0) and featured Player of the Year Misty May. Walker was named team captain in 2000 and was a three-time Big West Conference All-Academic selection. She played in every match of her career as a 49er. Walker was active in the club volleyball scene in Southern California. She has been the head coach for the 14, 16, and 18's Elite Teams, and has produced 13 Junior Olympic All-Americans, one Junior Olympic Most Valuable Player and one Junior National Team member. Her Cal Juniors Volleyball team was the 2005 Junior Olympic (16's) National Champions. She completed her degree from CSULB in psychology and graduated cum laude in 2001. Melissa also earned her Masters Degree in Special Education from the University of Arizona in 2018. |