Jay Goettman
Langley High School
Jay Goettman grew up 130 miles from the ocean, but he wasn’t going to let a little thing like that stop him from learning to play beach volleyball.
After falling in love with the sport while watching the 2012 Olympics, he found a playing partner—the roof of his home in McLean’s Langley Farms neighborhood—and spent hours setting and spiking against its pitched slope until he was finally ready for some real games.
He still remembers what it was like as a 14-year-old trying to work himself into scrimmages against 20- and 30-somethings at the sand pit courts near Rock Creek Park in D.C. It was a crash course in competitiveness, confidence and social skills. “My parents would just drop me off with a PB&J and a Gatorade,” says the 6-foot-2-inch athlete. “I’d have to say, ‘Who’s got the next game?’ and find a partner.”
Goettman eventually worked his way up to the USA Junior National Team, earning Top 10 rankings in national and international competitions during the past two years—not to mention a varsity letter in girls’ volleyball. (In the absence of a boys’ volleyball program, he practiced with the girls’ squad at Langley.) “I was never afraid of what other people would think of me,” says the 18-year-old.
What’s next? The 2024 or 2028 Olympics are a possibility, Goettman says, though he’s not sure he wants to give up his other interests. In high school, he was captain of the basketball team, a leader in the Peer-to-Peer Mentoring program and a track coach for Special Olympics. He also has a creative streak and is currently working on an idea for T-shirts with interchangeable pockets with different designs. This fall he’ll enter a special University of Southern California program for entrepreneurs founded by Dr. Dre, the rapper and businessman known for Beats headphones.