McKayla Ferris
Coach
McKayla Ferris is entering her 3rd year with Kōkua. McKayla recently finished her first year as Volunteer Assistant Coach with Gonzaga University’s indoor volleyball program. Prior to joining the staff at Gonzaga, McKayla spent her fifth year of NCAA D1 volleyball eligibility competing on the top team for No. 12 ranked Loyola Marymount Beach Volleyball Team. While there, she received All-WCC First Team honors and nomination for the WCC Female Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Award. McKayla spent all four years of her indoor career as a six rotation outside hitter at Gonzaga University. Individually, she achieved the goal of surpassing 1,000 career kills while also being recognized for her commitment to academics as a two-time WCC All-Academic First Team member and two-time WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention.
Throughout her collegiate career she has participated in numerous ERVA beach events, several AVPnext tournaments, the 2016 USAV Beach HP Championships and the AVP tour. She had the opportunity to study under many FIVB and AVP legends including John Mayor, Betsi Flint, Diane Nelson, Billy Allen, Stafford Slick, Stanford Beach Head Coach, Andrew Fuller, and Hawaii Beach Associate Coach, Evan Silberstein. She is very excited to join the Kokua ohana and play a part in their mission to grow this amazing game!
Kady Forbes (Try)
Coach
Kady (Try) Forbes is entering her 3rd year with Kōkua. Kady became a beach volleyball enthusiast after completing her indoor collegiate career in 2011. She started by playing in tournaments all over the PNW gathering first hand experience and knowledge. In 2016 she took a leap of faith and started competing in AVPNext and AVP Qualifier tournaments while training with some amazing beach professionals in Southern California. After winning the PNW AVPNext bid for the 2016 Manhattan Beach Open, Kady and her partner had an eye-opening experience of what it takes to properly train for the top level. While living in Portland, Oregon from 2016-2019, she continued her training and playing with a fantastic group of women dedicated to learning and developing their techniques and playing in competitive tournaments up and down the west coast. Kady has trained both juniors and collegiate athletes in both indoor as well as beach volleyball. She is extremely excited to teach and share her love of beach volleyball with Kōkua VBC!
Billy Allen
Coach
Billy Allen is entering his 2nd year with Kōkua. Billy grew up San Diego playing volleyball from a young age. He won his first doubles (grass) tournament with his dad at 10 years old. From there the path was clear, Billy went on to win the AAU Beach Jr Olympics at 16 and 18. Billy also played indoor in HS and College (Cal State Northridge) as a setter. He now plays professionally on the AVP and for the USA National Beach Team. Billy is a 2x AVP Seattle Open Champion.
Billy has coached for over 15 years and is the host of the volleyball coaching podcast “Coach Your Brains Out.”
Billy lived in Hermosa Beach before moving up to Post Falls last fall with his wife Janelle a former Eastern Eagle and AVP Pro from Post Falls.
Jacob Pruitt
Coach
Jacob is entering his 3rd year with Kōkua. Jacob grew up in San Diego playing beach volleyball from an early age. His love of the game led him to compete in high school and college. When he wasn't lacing up his court shoes, he could be found with his toes in the sand. After graduating from Grossmont Junior College, he played in numerous CBVA beach events for a higher level of competition. Jacob has evolved his volleyball career into coaching. He has dedicated years of developing high school, club, and collegiate athletes. We are proud to introduce Jacob Pruitt and welcome him to Kōkua Beach to develop the next generation of beach volleyball athletes.
Kylie Beckett
Coach
Kylie Beckett is entering her 3rd year with Kōkua. Kylie played collegiate beach volleyball at College of the Desert in beautiful Palm Springs, CA. She has been playing sand volleyball and indoor volleyball for 7 years. Kylie competed in Evergreen Region's junior sand volleyball league and placed 1st three out of the four years. She is now competing in adult sand tournaments and leagues where she regularly finishes in the top three. Kylie has placed 1st at Seaside Beach Tournament three times, and 2nd once. As a student of the game she is looking forward to coming home and sharing skills and experience with her ohana at Kōkua Beach VBC.
Jacob Roberts
Coach
Jacob has been playing competitive sports for most of his life, while he has only been playing beach volleyball for the past 4 years, he has played in several tournaments with some first-place finishes. For the most part Jacob is self-taught and has surrounded himself with some of the area’s best beach volleyball athletes to help him along the way. As a collegiate athlete at Central Washington University Jacob is no stranger to hard work. He understands that success requires a good work ethic and the ability to deliver relevant information. He has been coaching various sports over the past 8 years and volleyball for the past 3 years. Jacob is excited start his beach coaching career with Kōkua Beach Volleyball Club.
Joel Evans
Coach
Joel Evens is one of Spokane’s amazing athletes. While he has only been playing beach volleyball since 2008, he has evolved as an athlete and a coach. Joel has been active in the beach and indoor scene competing in Seaside, Spike2Care, ERVA, and various tournaments and leagues in the area.
Joel is no stranger to process of college recruiting and the high-level training it takes to make the next step after high school. Joel Graduated from North Central HS and was offered a scholarship to play Division 1 baseball in San Diego. After weighing all his options, he chose to attend Junior college at Big Bend C.C. and soon transferred to Whitworth to finish out his college career. His commitment to hard work and development landed him a coaching position at Whitworth. As a father he has focused his coaching to volleyball. He has been coaching indoor for the past 3 years and is looking to expand his knowledge by adding beach.
Joel is a positive and kindhearted person which blends well with his coaching style to give candid feedback and always be honest with the kids. His love and passion for coaching players on and off the court make him a great fit for our Kōkua Ohana.
One of Joel’s rules to live as a coach and a player- “Never talk about how good you are. Show it. That extra rep, every drill, coming early stay late, be that team leader. Coaches notice”
Janelle Allen
Coach
Janelle Allen (formerly Ruen) attended Eastern Washington University where she played volleyball and basketball. Janelle was honorable mention all-Big Sky in basketball, and three times named all-conference in volleyball, including the 2002 Big Sky Conference MVP. After graduating at EWU, Janelle moved to California and started competing on the AVP Pro Beach Tour. In 2006, Janelle was nominated for AVP Rookie of the Year and in 2008 she was nominated for Paul Mitchell Hot Shot. She has played 12 professional seasons with 20+ top ten finishes including a 2nd and 7th at FIVB international events. Janelle has coached volleyball at the collegiate, high school, and club levels over the last 15 years. She is married to Billy Allen and they have one son, Ketch.
Abby Tompkins
U12 Coach
Bio Coming
Chan Esperas
Director/Coach
Chan Esperas has over 28 years of experience in volleyball. While most of it is from the indoor scene, he has transitioned to coaching beach volleyball. With coaching beach as a new discipline, he spent endless hours analyzing the game. He studied core fundamentals, strategies, and tactics from multiple resources. Chan has established a network of coaches and attends clinics and formal coach training programs to develop his coaching style. As a member of USAV, JVA, AAU, AVPA, AOC, and AVCA he has access to a vast library of resources to help develop himself and his athletes. This commitment has lead his team to win multiple national bids over the past few years.
Kōkua Beach Volleyball Club was formed when he saw an opportunity to help (kōkua) the athletes of the beach community grow their game. We have gathered the greatest minds available to provide the best training and opportunities for our ohana to compete at the highest level they can achieve.