Sixteen-year-old twin sisters Britain and Brielle Taylor of Wellington are leading a competitive beach volleyball-centric life. They are enjoying the challenge of getting stronger, fitter, quicker and better by training together and playing together.
The pair have a mutual goal of earning beach volleyball college scholarships, preferably at the same university, so they can continue to play on the same beach volleyball team. To date, several top NCAA Division I programs have reached out to their local volleyball club, Sandstorm, about interest in the girls.
As individuals, they are definitely not the tallest, as both of them stand 5-foot-6, but they are extremely fast and quick. They made the varsity track and field team at the King’s Academy when they were in the sixth grade.
Their fundamental beach volleyball skills are strong and sound.
“Our ball control is what sets us apart,” Britain said.
“We know each other very well because we are so used to playing with each other,” Brielle added.
Both girls are natural athletes who have demonstrated the ability to also play soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics, basketball and dance.
“A few years ago, I thought my girls were going to be college soccer players, but now they are passionate and serious about playing beach volleyball,” said their mother, Christy Taylor, who played college volleyball for Palm Beach Atlantic University in the late 1990s. “The girls are blessed with God-given athletic talents.”
Their father, Patrick, is a 6-foot-4 former basketball player who also played at Palm Beach Atlantic University, so both girls inherited athletic genes from their parents.
To help turn the collegiate beach volleyball dream into a reality, the decision was made last summer to withdraw the girls from TKA and register them as homeschoolers.
“The girls are enrolled in FLVS and are also taking classes through Southeastern University,” said Christy, who used to coach the girls and boys indoor volleyball teams at TKA.
By being homeschooled, it gives the Taylor family the chance to travel around the U.S. to participate in tournaments, camps and clinics. In the last year, they have traveled to play in tournaments from Florida to California. Nowadays, they are on the road competing roughly 20 weekends a year.
“They are living the lives of college students by taking their books with them on the road,” Christy said.
In order to legally maintain contact with college coaches, both girls post videos and pictures of their tournament performances on Instagram.
“Many college coaches are liking their posts,” Christy noted. “College coaches are definitely aware of what they are doing at tournaments. They can’t communicate with the girls until June 15, so it’s nice for them to be kind enough to encourage them this way.”
When the girls are not training, studying, sleeping, eating or competing, they are traveling to watch their older brother Logan compete for the men’s indoor volleyball team at North Greenville University in South Carolina. Logan, who was a standout performer for the boys indoor volleyball team at TKA, is a freshman setter on the team, and he’s thriving as a college volleyball player.
“He was actually named National Setter of the Week one week which was, as you can imagine, crazy exciting,” Christy said.
Both Christy and Patrick, and their three children, are enjoying their competitive beach and indoor volleyball experiences.
“We’re all enjoying this volleyball ride,” Christy said. “God has blessed them all with athletic talent. Now, it’s up to them to take it from there.”
Britain, Brielle and Logan are doing just that, and then some.
