In the summer of 2012, the Olympics, an international competition held every four years where athletes from around the world come together to compete in various sports, took place in London, England. Of the 24 Olympic men’s beach volleyball teams, Florida Atlantic University’s very own Steve Grotowski found his spot in the tournament. 

Grotowski is now the head coach of the women’s beach volleyball team and he uses his experience from the Olympics to help guide his players and serve as an inspirational figure. 

After living in London for the first 10 years of his life, Grotowski made his way over to Florida. In the Sunshine State, he played multiple sports growing up, but eventually discovered his passion for volleyball in high school. 

“I didn’t really want to play volleyball,” said Grotowski. “I was playing basketball, tennis and golf in high school. We had a beach court in my neighborhood and all my buddies played volleyball freshman year of high school.” 

What led Grotowski to volleyball was a negotiation with his friends; if they played basketball with him, then he would play volleyball with them. He soon joined his high school volleyball team. By his senior year, Grotowski had quit all his other sports and focused on his future career in volleyball.

“Beach volleyball was the last sport I ever kind of tried as a younger person in high school and I just sort of fell in love with it,” said Grotowski. “It was the only sport I really enjoyed practicing.”

Grotowski went on to play indoor volleyball for the University of New Haven for one year. He later switched to beach volleyball and began playing semi-professionally in 2001 for the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) and the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), playing on almost every continent in the world. 

In 2012, Grotowski qualified for the London Summer Olympics, representing his birth nation Great Britain in beach volleyball alongside his teammate John Garcia-Thompson. The pair were the very first men to represent Great Britain in beach volleyball at the Olympic level.

“Being in the cafeteria was probably one of the most surreal things. I would have breakfast with a track athlete in the morning and we’d get to talking a little bit and I’d see them win a medal on TV after lunch,” said Grotowski. “At dinner, they’d be sitting … with their medal and I’d be like, ‘Oh my god, I watched you on TV today!’ Usually, you’re at home watching those kinds of things.”

Grotowski compares his Olympic experience to the daily life of an “National Basketball Association player.” 

“If we wanted to go somewhere, there was a car available to take us … pretty much anywhere we went in the city,” Grotowski said.

He shared there were many places in London where Olympians could hang out and get free food. A few large sporting wear companies such as Nike, Adidas and Oakley had athletic houses and offered athletes free items. 

“There’s just people all over the place that are interested in giving you free stuff and associating themselves with Olympic athletes,” said Grotowski.

Along the way, Grotowski was gifted with more than just nice freebies. He recalled before the Olympics meeting England’s former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who wanted to talk to him about rugby — which was a funny memory for him. Another person he encountered was the elite competitive swimmer, “The Flying Fish,” Michael Phelps.

“I was walking through the village, walking and texting — which is always dangerous — and I ran into somebody, and he was walking and talking as well,” said Grotowski. “We both said, ‘Oh my god, I’m really sorry.’ No problem. Kept walking. My friend grabs me, [and said] ‘What are you doing?’ And I was like, “What? What’s wrong?’ He goes, ‘You almost killed Michael Phelps!’”

Grotowski even met the three-time Olympic gold medalist and beach volleyball legend, Karch Kiraly. He was the assistant coach of the USA’s women’s beach volleyball Olympic team at the 2012 Olympics. The team took home silver that year.

“Famous athletes seem bigger when you see them on the news or doing interviews but they’re all just regular people that are working harder at something,” said Grotowski.

Although many of the memories were positive, Grotowski explained that he and his teammate faced challenges along the way. The first obstacle was finding out they qualified for the Olympics just three weeks prior to it starting, which added a stress factor since they had limited preparation time. 

Grotowski stated that Great Britain had a host nation wildcard spot to be entered for the Olympics. In beach volleyball, Olympic spots can also be earned through sport-specific tournaments rather than just by ranking. Athletes can qualify for this eligibility by performing well in a set number of qualification events.

He explained he and his teammate played in 18 qualification events from 2011 to the beginning of the 2012 season just before the Olympics, but he was not exactly sure if they were going to the Olympics.

“We were just trying to get there, and then in three weeks, we had to switch gears to, ‘Alright, how are we going to be successful here?’” said Grotowski. “A lot of the teams had their spots eight to nine months in advance…”

Grotowski explained that he and his teammate, along with many other athletes, were brought into the Olympic Village for an introductory meeting to discuss the rules and expectations of the Olympic games.

“I think there was like 40 or 50 athletes that got brought into this meeting, we’re all kind of sitting there. They’re giving us a PowerPoint, talking to us about the rules and things to expect, and they start handing out these pendants,” said Grotowksi.

All the athletes received a box containing a silver pendant that read a number on the back. The back of his teammate’s pendant read 540 and he was 541. The number represented when Great Britain’s athletes were assigned to becoming an Olympian — like a list of athletes.

Team GB was represented by 541 athletes that year, meaning Grotowksi and Garcia-Thompson were the very last athletes who were entered to wave the Union Jack and proudly represent Great Britain.

“Trying to stay focused was challenging. The protocols, the way timeouts happen, there’s TV breaks — there’s many things that are different from a regular beach volleyball match,” said Grotowski.

Luckily, his team did not feel too intimidated by the other Olympic teams because they had played some of them before.

“All of the teams in the Olympics, play on the beach volleyball international tour, so two of the teams we had previously played, one of the teams we had not — but we had seen them at the events we were at,” said Grotowski. “They weren’t unfamiliar teams, one of the teams we beat the year before. So definitely kind of felt like we had some opportunities.” 

Grotowski explained that although he and the other teams may not have been too intimidated by each other, there was a strong layer of “anxiety” felt during the Olympic matches.  

“I don’t know if there was tension, there was anxiety for sure,” said Grotowksi. “I think both teams knew that that was a big match. Whoever won that match was probably going to get to come out of the pool.” 

Overall, Grotowski and Garcia-Thompson had ranked 19th out of the 24 men’s teams.

“Not winning any games was a little hard to stomach, but at the same time, we still made it there. So it’s kind of a bittersweet thing,” said Grotowski. “There’s a lot of British fans to make you feel a little bit better. We didn’t win, but there’s still a bunch of people out there. I signed a lot of autographs [and] got to do a lot of things. I took a lot of pictures.”

Despite his unsuccessful appearance, he remains grateful for the experience and receives cards every five years from the British Olympic Association. 

“You know, once an Olympian, always an Olympian,” said Grotowski.

After his time in the 2012 Olympics concluded, Grotowski began his journey of transitioning into coaching beach volleyball. He joined FAU’s Women’s Beach Volleyball program in 2015 as a volunteer assistant, officially becoming the assistant coach in 2016 and additionally runs the beach volleyball club. 

His wife, Capri, was the head coach from 2014 until June of 2022 when she passed away after a long battle with cancer. Following her passing, Steve Grotowski was appointed head coach.

During her eight years, Capri led FAU’s Sandy Owls to their first Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Beach Volleyball Championship in 2021. In 2022, just before Capri’s passing, she and Grotowski led the program to its first NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship appearance and NCAA Tournament win against Stanford. 

The team earned an astonishing number eight national ranking and Grotowski was named the “National Assistant Coach of the Year” by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

“She inspires me every day,” said Grotowski. “For someone who didn’t get to live a full life, passing away at 38, I think the biggest thing I take away from that is perspective.” 

Grotowski stated that he learned to think more about what is truly important in his life. He now makes sure to prioritize his children, family and FAU’s beach volleyball program. Even during his rough days, he is still grateful for life and being able to get up and do something every day.

By utilizing his experience, Grotowski explained that he likes to help his athletes with their perspectives on life and has the team regularly talk about gratitude. 

Grotowski described his and Capri’s coaching styles as “yin” and “yang,” as they both balanced each other’s coaching. He also explained that they wanted to be coaches because he loved the sport and she was a natural teacher.

They felt drawn to help athletes mentally because they believed that a downside to the intense competitiveness of college sports was its effects on athletes’ mental health. Grotowski explained how negative impacts on an athlete’s value and self–worth can affect their motivation to win and lead to burnout, causing them to fall out of the sport that they fell in love with.

“We really felt like we could get kids to win at a high level but still value them as people and try to avoid tying their self-worth and their value to just winning,” said Grotowski. “There’s a lot of other things that go into being a good athlete and going on to being a good person and good individual after college.”  

FAU’s beach volleyball program started an annual “Beach Bash” fundraiser tournament in Capri’s honor shortly after her passing, naming it “Capri’s Legacy.” One of the main goals is to attract more people to FAU’s beach volleyball community. Grotowski said that he to this day runs into people who don’t know about the program and described it as something he wants to change. 

Grotowski plans to engage more students and people in the team’s community with the fundraiser.

Grotowski personally loves the tournament because it’s an event that their kids get to help out with and learn how their mother has impacted so many people. 

“It keeps her memory alive,” said Grotowski.

He also describes the tournament as good for growing and strengthening FAU’s beach volleyball community, explaining it is a great team bonding experience and an event that FAU alumni come to. 

“We have a really strong team here, and I want everybody to come out and to get an idea of what it’s like because it’s fun,” said Grotowski.

Two of the team’s seniors, Julie Honzovicova and Marketa Svozilova, describe the tournament as a fun “big party.”

“I feel it’s like a celebration of the semester and [gets us] ready for the spring season to work hard and play some good games,” said Honzovicova.

The Capri’s Legacy 2024 Beach Bash took place at the FAU beach volleyball courts on Dec. 6-8. The team hopes to see even more fans and engage more people in their fun tournament next year in 2025.

Impact on his Athletes:

Grotowski’s great experience in both professional and Olympic beach volleyball levels has allowed him to help his athletes improve their athletic abilities and mindsets.

After dealing with intense pressure during his career, Grotowski shared the advice he gives to his athletes to help them deal with nervousness during competitions. He emphasizes that nerves will go away and that eventually players will settle into their flow. 

“Everybody reacts differently to it. I think the best thing I can do is have some empathy and remind them that it’ll pass,” said Grotowski. “If you are feeling nervous and pretend that you’re not nervous, it gets worse. So just dance with the fact that you’re nervous.”

Honzovicova and Svozilova shared how Grotowski and his beach volleyball program have impacted them as athletes. 

Svozilova explained that Grotowski has taught her important strategies to improve her performance like predicting where the ball will land and how to use the wind during matches.

“That brought a new perspective to my game and made it more fun for me,” said Svozilova.

Svozilova also enjoys having a coach who is an Olympian.

“The dream is to go to the Olympics, and it’s nice to be coached by someone that got that experience,” she said.

Honzovicova shared that Grotowski has helped her improve by helping her think more critically in matches. She also appreciates the family-like culture the team is building. 

“We are trying to be such a big family here and support each other and be here for each other,” said Honzovicova.

Honzovicova and Svozilova shared that the three core values the team lives by are respect, gratitude and confidence. The team values serve as daily reminders to the athletes to help them strengthen their mindsets and build their confidence when they play.

Assistant coach Kristi Tekavec also shared that the backstory behind the team’s values stemmed from Capri’s powerful influence. Tekavec explained that Coach Capri’s “strength” and “courage” created a strong value for respect and gratitude within the team and an overall perspective on having a stronger work ethic. 

“I feel like the things that she instilled into the program are values that are going to stick with us forever,” said Tekavec. 

Tekavec is an FAU alumni, who played her senior year on the beach volleyball team in 2019, having previously played on the indoor team for all three of her previous years. She explained she fell in love with beach volleyball and wanted to keep coming back and growing in the sport. 

Coach Capri and Grotowski let her do just that by becoming a practice player. Tekavec then became a volunteer assistant, leading to her current position as the team’s assistant coach. 

“I just kind of fell in love with the culture and the vibe,” said Tekavec. She described the people of FAU’s beach volleyball community as “awesome” and their positive energy makes a person want to “stick around.”

Tekavec also explained how her relationship with Grotowski has grown from her time as one of his athletes to being a fellow coach, describing him as “funny” and a “kind” person who makes her feel like family. 

“Steve just carries that Olympic presence … and he’s achieved really cool things. So, his feedback is always really important,” said Tekavec. 

On top of his presence, Tekavec admires Grotowski’s unique mindset. She explained that she has never known someone who thinks, interprets, and understands the way Grotowksi does, describing his analytical process as “really cool” and explaining that his mindset has opened her eyes to a new perspective on the sport.

“I think Kristi is one of the biggest reasons why we’ve been so successful in the last five years,” said Grotowski. 

He explained letting Tekavec join the team as the assistant coach was a “no-brainer” as she loves FAU and is “caring” towards all the athletes and everyone. He also described her as a great beach volleyball player and coach.

“She’s really worked at her craft as a professional beach player and as a coach,” said Grotowski. “We’re definitely really lucky to have her.”

Grotowski credits Tekavec with helping him improve his communication skills and build stronger connections with the younger athletes on the team as she was recently a student-athlete. 

Along with engaging more people to the team’s community, Grotowski plans to return to the national championships and NCAA tournament this season.

“We knocked off Standford a couple of years ago. We were very close to knocking off LSU two years ago. I’d be excited to get back,” said Grotowski.

Grotowksi is certain the team will return to the NCAA tournament this year despite missing it last season. He believes last year’s freshmen, juniors and sophomores have gained a lot of “valuable experience” to take the team to the tournament this season.

“I can feel the difference in the way they’re operating at practice, the conversations I’ve had with them, they’re very locked in, they’re very engaged,” said Grotowski. “I think they have a good idea of what it’s going to take for us to get back there.”

The FAU community is fortunate to have Coach Steve Grotowski, not just as an esteemed coach and athlete but also as a prime example of what passion and a strong work ethic can achieve. His journey from Olympian to coaching serves as an inspiration to all of us to strive for greatness in all that we do.

Taylor Fray is a contributing writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @tttaylorfray.