North Bay Haven starting up Bay County’s first boy’s volleyball team

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – “I thought, why not? What if there is a possibility here to expand that love of the game. Can we explore that possibility with our AD? So here we are now and that opportunity just kind of arose this year, so we are going to give it a try.” Coach Emerson Cabatu said.

And that’s exactly what they’re trying to accomplish at North Bay Haven. The Buccaneers are looking to create Bay County’s first ever boy’s volleyball for the upcoming seasonn.

Only a few teams in the Florida panhandle exist, two being at Gulf Breeze and Choctaw. But with Coach Cabatu leading the charge, this dream is becoming a reality.

“My wife and I have always been under the premise of growing the game, growing the love of the game. It does not need to be just girls right? Can we have the opportunity for boys? Can we have the opportunities for young adults? Can we have it to the youth, to the kindergarteners, to the middle schoolers, all the way up to the high schoolers, absolutely! And it just so happened that boys volleyball here in Bay County is the only one here in Bay County, so that allows other students from Arnold, Bay Mosley, Rising Academy, you know whatever academies that there might be, to go ahead and come into the facility and go ahead and participate in that.” Coach Cabatu said.

After arriving on the North Bay Haven campus two years ago, Coach Cabatu has wanted to bring boy’s volleyball to the area. Not only that, but make an everlasting impact on the game as a whole.

Tryouts will be held on Tuesday, February the 18th.

“So when everybody gets in the gym, I just would love to see some energy, lots of effort, athleticism in the way they play and honestly just good communication and gamesmanship and especially sportsmanship. With boys it’s a different kind of dynamic a lot more testosterone a lot more energy a lot more words that you normally don’t see coming out of you know girls, so it’s one of those things that we have to mold and help develop. Now do we see the energy, can we go ahead and say you know you got some athleticism, let’s work on that let’s bring that forward into the game of volleyball, that’s what I’d like to see.” Coach Cabatu said.

To learn more about tryouts, contact Coach Cabatu or North Bay Haven Charter Academy.

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