Kenzie's Road to AVP
Donation protected
Many of you have known me since I was just a little girl, or have met me throughout my life. Those who have known me since I was a young girl know how competitive I already was at the age of 5. I was always the youngest among my family but always tried to beat everyone no matter what. As I got older I tried almost every sport I could until I found my passion to play volleyball. At the age of 12, I decided that I wanted to play professional beach volleyball and make it to the Olympics one day just like the Greats, Misty May and Kerri Walsh.
Throughout my high school and college volleyball career, I have always had the passion and drive to reach the next level. Throughout my last year of college I was shown what it would take for me to make it to the next level and play professional beach volleyball. That is why my husband Ben and I made the decision to move to Hermosa Beach, California, the motherland of beach volleyball.
In my first year of playing on the AVP tour, I earned three 13th place finishes and two 17th place finishes. This was a very strong start to my career but only motivated me more to work harder and finish better in the 2018 season. The past four months in off-season I have put in countless hours on the sand court and in the gym to become faster and stronger. I am constantly pushing my body and mind to the limit to raise my level even higher. My partner and I competed in our first NORCECA qualifier together in March and won first place! This means that we will be representing Team USA as the number one team in three NORCECA tournaments in Mexico and Cuba. This is just the beginning to the success that I will have this upcoming beach volleyball season if I continue to drive myself to the top!
My success isn’t going to come easy though. I am going to have to work harder and longer than many others on the tour to gain exposure. Because I am not from California like many of the tour players but came from a small private university in Arizona I am relatively unknown. Being the underdog all my life has always been the greatest challenge I’ve had to face yet one of my biggest motivators. Earning three All-American titles in college has shown that I am capable of overcoming these obstacles. The reason for my GoFundMe page is to gain a little extra support and to help me face the steady expenses of traveling, lodging, coaching fees, training fees, and tournament entry fees. Since our move to California, Ben has been working full-time and I have been balancing practices and workouts with working part-time. Through all our efforts, there are still many expenses that I will incur, all of which are necessary in order to become successful on the professional beach volleyball tour!!
I am asking my family and friends for any help they can give to help me reach my goals and live my dream. Any donations would be greatly appreciated, but most of all any support you can give would be wonderful. Ways you could support me include following my social media pages, liking my entries, sharing my stories, or even a good luck message before a tournament! I will be streaming all of my matches via Facebook live so you have a chance to see my matches. After every tournament I will write an update on the GoFundMe page to keep you all posted on how season is going. Many of you have supported me throughout my life AND my athletic career and have helped me to become who I am today. I am extremely grateful to all of you for your undying support!
Throughout my high school and college volleyball career, I have always had the passion and drive to reach the next level. Throughout my last year of college I was shown what it would take for me to make it to the next level and play professional beach volleyball. That is why my husband Ben and I made the decision to move to Hermosa Beach, California, the motherland of beach volleyball.
In my first year of playing on the AVP tour, I earned three 13th place finishes and two 17th place finishes. This was a very strong start to my career but only motivated me more to work harder and finish better in the 2018 season. The past four months in off-season I have put in countless hours on the sand court and in the gym to become faster and stronger. I am constantly pushing my body and mind to the limit to raise my level even higher. My partner and I competed in our first NORCECA qualifier together in March and won first place! This means that we will be representing Team USA as the number one team in three NORCECA tournaments in Mexico and Cuba. This is just the beginning to the success that I will have this upcoming beach volleyball season if I continue to drive myself to the top!
My success isn’t going to come easy though. I am going to have to work harder and longer than many others on the tour to gain exposure. Because I am not from California like many of the tour players but came from a small private university in Arizona I am relatively unknown. Being the underdog all my life has always been the greatest challenge I’ve had to face yet one of my biggest motivators. Earning three All-American titles in college has shown that I am capable of overcoming these obstacles. The reason for my GoFundMe page is to gain a little extra support and to help me face the steady expenses of traveling, lodging, coaching fees, training fees, and tournament entry fees. Since our move to California, Ben has been working full-time and I have been balancing practices and workouts with working part-time. Through all our efforts, there are still many expenses that I will incur, all of which are necessary in order to become successful on the professional beach volleyball tour!!
I am asking my family and friends for any help they can give to help me reach my goals and live my dream. Any donations would be greatly appreciated, but most of all any support you can give would be wonderful. Ways you could support me include following my social media pages, liking my entries, sharing my stories, or even a good luck message before a tournament! I will be streaming all of my matches via Facebook live so you have a chance to see my matches. After every tournament I will write an update on the GoFundMe page to keep you all posted on how season is going. Many of you have supported me throughout my life AND my athletic career and have helped me to become who I am today. I am extremely grateful to all of you for your undying support!
Organizer
Kenzie Ponnet
Organizer
Hermosa Beach, CA
