Middleton, Fla. – Chris Hamilton was named head coach of The Villages High School's first beach volleyball team, the school announced.

Hamilton comes to VHS with a wealth of beach volleyball knowledge and two-plus decades of experience to his credit, including coaching and training stops at both the collegiate and club level.

He most recently served as the Director of Training for Sports Edge Beach in the Jacksonville metro area, where he devised training programs and skills clinics for athletes of all levels of competition. During that tenure, Hamilton hosted several Division I university programs for offseason training functions.

At other previous stops, Hamilton has served as a volunteer assistant coach at both Stetson University and the University of Tampa, while he's also considered one of Florida's pioneers in establishing beach volleyball on the preps sports scene.

In total, Hamilton has spent more than 25 years in the beach volleyball circuit throughout the country, while also holding key positions in the Sunshine State such as the Florida Region of USA Volleyball Beach High-Performance Director and Coach from 2015-2018. He also spent time as the director and coach of the Premier Beach Volleyball Club in Tampa.

"We are excited about the opportunity that Coach Hamilton will bring to The Villages High School and our community," said VHS athletic director Richard Pettus. "With his expertise, experience and background in beach volleyball, we're looking forward to building our program from scratch."

The 2024 spring season will be the first in school history for the VHS beach volleyball program, after adding the sport following the construction of four beach volleyball courts on the new Middleton campus, which opened this past August.

Along with serving as head coach of The Villages High School beach volleyball team, Hamilton is slated to make even more history as he becomes the first Director of Beach Volleyball for the Buffalo Stampeders (The Villages Youth Sports Club, Inc.), leading the community's first-ever beach volleyball youth program.