Our Coaches

Coach Mike Hawkins

Club Director Mike Hawkins started coaching in 2012 with the goal of teaching daughter Alyssa and all her friends the game of volleyball. Starting with City of Scottsdale indoor league, then AGAF @ Boys and Girls Club in Grayhawk, then started Grayhawk Beach along with coach David Potocki Sr. officially in 2014. Playing indoor and beach since the late 80’s, volleyball is nothing short of a lifelong passion. Mike has played AOVA, CBVA, Masters in Seaside and Motherlode, and continues to play indoor USA Adult Nationals and Huntsman Senior games. Coach Mike earned his BCAP-I Certification in 2017 in Gulf Shores, AL and is continuously learning and surrounding club with best coaching staff in AZ.

Mike graduated from Arizona State University in 1991 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and currently works in the Aerospace industry developing Software/Systems for business/commercial jet flight decks and turbine engine control systems. With his industry profession and love of beach volleyball, Mike knows that academics and high level education is priority 1 and the importance of the academic/athletic/life balance.

Over the last 10 years Grayhawk Beach has grown attracting the best coaches and converting more and more players from indoor to beach. We continue to increase our field of competitive teams locally and California tournaments. Whether just beginning or playing at highest-level, Mike knows this business is more than just volleyball. Focus on skills development, confidence, self-esteem, and that competitive spirit both on the court and in real life. Mike is also the co-founder of the first indoor beach volleyball festival Scottsdale BeachFest (2019-2021) held at the Scottsdale WestWorld Arena.

Coach Bobby Schwarzkopf

Rest In Peace, Coach Bobby.

Forever in our Hearts. <3

Robert “Bobby” Schwarzkopf has played sand ball for 15 years now and competed in open sand for several years with his highest finish being a third in open. Bobby is USAVB Beach IMPACT Certified and the shortest player in the state to be competing at this level with Dave Potocki Jr. being a close second. His pinnacle of volleyball was when his high school team won the state championships at Deer Valley High School in Glendale (Coach Hawkins alma mater). He was named the ‘best defensive player of Arizona’ and All-State first team my junior and senior years but chose to pursue soccer in college. Check out his video on YouTube

Coach David Nobrega

Coach David stared his volleyball journey at age 12 playing on the sand and self teaching himself. He then moved to indoor where he played all 4 years in high school and then on to The University of Arizona. In high school he was part of the state championship team and while at The U of A won the NIRSA National Championship division 3. He also participated in AZ Region and US Nationals AA division. Winning 3 AZ Region championships and 1 silver medal at US Nationals. He was the Head Coach for the University of Arizona Men and Women’s club teams. He lead the mens team to a 5th place finish at Nationals and lead the women to a 2nd place finish. He also spent 4 years coaching for Club Cactus in Tucson.

After indoor, he moved back to the sand and over the last 10 years competes regularly. Through out his professional career, as an engineer, he has been blessed to travel the world. While working in Australia he joined Parklands Beach Volleyball club where he was a club champion. He has extensive coaching experience in private and group settings. David also earned USA Volleyball CAP1 certification. (Coaching Accreditation Program) and has 2021/2022 SafeSport certification.

Coach Josh Roper

Coach Josh has been playing beach volleyball since he was just 12 years old. A south Texas native, he grew up playing beach volleyball on the coast. As he began to get more serious about the sport, he traveled to Austin, Texas, where he played for Austin Juniors indoor and continued playing beach elsewhere.

During his indoor career he was selected for the Texas High Performance Team on the national level. Though his indoor career was rewarding, he decided to attend Grand Canyon University to fully focus on his beach game and be on staff for the top 10 nationally ranked program. Through his hard work and dedication to the sport he was nominated and selected for the 2022 USA Collegiate National Team, representing the country’s top 16 college beach athletes. He has not only had the opportunity to be coached by the best, but also coach alongside the best. Kristen Rohr, head coach at GCU was the 2022 AVCA Coach of the Year and has been working with Josh for the past three years.

Though Josh’s knowledge of the game is extensive, his coaching skills have also been a priority, leading Rancho Solano Preparatory most rewarding season yet and working alongside GCU to get to their second national championship tournament appearance this past season. He looks forward to the skills he has to offer to Grayhawk beach this summer and loves to work with highly motivated, young athletes!

Qualifications:

• 3 years with the Grand Canyon University beach volleyball
• 30 under 30 recipient
• Rancho Solano Preparatory Assistant Coach
• SafeSport Certified
• CPR Certified
• USA Beach Collegiate National Team
• Private and group training experience
• Multiple years of club coaching experience

Coach Kelli Greene-Agnew

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2022 – AVCA Top Flight (with Kylie Deberg on Court 2 and with Grace Seits on Court 4)
2022 – CCSA All-Conference Team
2022 – Preseason All-CCSA Team
2022 – CCSA Academic Honor Roll
2020 – AVCA National Pair of the Week
2019 – CCSA All-Freshman Team

2023
Kelli Greene-Agnew ended the season with an overall record of 10-4 (87-48 career) … partnered with Natalie Myszkowski for most of the season going 8-2 (1-1 on court four and 7-1 on court five) … also went 7-0 in exhibition play (6-0 with Myszkowski and 1-0 with Marlie Monserez) … was 1-0 with Abby Van Winkle on court two, 1-0 with Lexy Denaburg on court one and 0-2 with Tessa Van Winkle on court four … the Bruins faced 32 ranked opponents in the 44 duals on the year with Greene-Agnew going 5-3 against ranked teams (three matches were truncated at the Pac-12 Championship) … recorded a season-best winning streak of seven consecutive duals twice during the season (from Mar. 4 to Mar. 17, one with Monserez, one with Abby Van Winkle, and then five with Myszkowski, ended on Mar. 17 on court five vs. No. 4 Florida State and then from Mar. 18 to Apr. 8 all with Myszkowski, ended with No. 13 Washington on court four with Tessa Van Winkle) … Greene-Agnew clinched six victories in dual matches on the year for the Bruins with the biggest coming in a 3-0 victory over No. 20 Arizona (Apr. 27) on court one in the Bruins’ first elimination dual at the Pac-12 Championship … Greene-Agnew went 1-0 in postseason play (1-0 at Pac-12s) on court one with Denaburg subbing in for Maggie Boyd (also had three truncated matches at the Pac-12 Championship) … Greene-Agnew went 10-3 in two-set matches and 0-1 in three-set matches on the year.

2022 (LSU – BEACH VB) – Season Statistics | Match-by-Match Statistics
Graduated from LSU with a degree in Sports Administration … finished the season with a 34-8 record, beginning the season on court four with Grace Seits (15-2) … she played one match on court four with Sierra Caffo, falling to UCLA’s Natalie Myszkowski and Sophie Moore in straight sets … she went 1-0 on court three with Parker Bracken, and then began playing with Kylie Deberg and that duo went 14-5 on court two and 5-0 on court three … that duo finished 11-5 against ranked teams … earned her most impressive win of the season on April 3 at No. 1 UCLA when she and Deberg won on Court 2 in three sets over Lea Monkhouse and Rileigh Powers (19-21, 21-16, 15-8) … she finished her LSU career with 77 wins (77-44), the sixth-most in program history.

2021 (LSU – BEACH VB) – Season Statistics | Match-by-Match Statistics
Finished the season with a 15-16 record, competing solely on Court 2 with Claire Coppola … earned her most impressive win of the season on April 4 at No. 4 UCLA when she and Coppola won on Court 2 in straight sets … Picked up a big victory at the CCSA Tournament in the semifinals over TCU to help give LSU a 3-2 win and send the Tigers to the championship match.

2020 (LSU – BEACH VB) – Season Statistics | Match-by-Match Statistics
Went 13-0 throughout the season with partner Taryn Kloth on Court 4 without dropping a set … that duo was the only pair in the country to compete in at least 10 matches together and win every set throughout the season … went 5-0 with Kloth in Hawaii to open the season, all against Top-20 teams, earning AVCA National Pair of the Week … helped lead LSU to wins in back-to-back weeks against then No. 1 UCLA, vaulting the Tigers to their first No. 1 ranking in both the AVCA and DiG Polls … won in straight sets against No. 1 UCLA on Court 4 on February 23, helping give the Tigers their first ever program win over the Bruins and winning the Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic … granted an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19.

2019 (LSU – BEACH VB) – Season Statistics | Match-by-Match Statistics
Picked up 15 victories in her freshman campaign playing with five different partners throughout the course of the season, going a combined 15-20 … earned her first win on February 24 on Court 3 over No. 18 Tulane … earned four wins over pairs from ranked teams … swept through her first five home matches of the season … named to the CCSA All-Freshman Team … competed on Court 2 for LSU during the NCAA Championship.

HIGH SCHOOL
Was a four-year indoor volleyball varsity letter winner at Sandra Day O’Connor High School … her teams were ranked in top 20 in the state all four years … team reached 6A Division I state playoffs all four years … 2016-2017 top 5 section leader in kills, digs and aces … 2014 Nike Tournament Championship MVP … 2016 Lady Rider Tournament All-Tournament Team.

PERSONAL
Full name: Kelli Marie Greene-Agnew … born in Phoenix, Arizona … mother is Colleen Agnew … has a younger brother, Ben … says she chose UCLA because, “ I had am extra year of eligibility and wanted to try something new for my last year. The coaches and girls are all amazing and I have loved training with them.” … lists her greatest athletic thrill as every NCAA tournament … pursuing a graduate degree in Project Management and has a career objective of working in the sports world.