CHHS' Beckford Signs Volleyball Scholarship
Posted on 05/18/2022
Denai Beckford of Chapel Hill High School officially accepted an offer for an athletic scholarship from Head Coach Michael Carter of Brenau University to play volleyball in the fall. Family, friends and teammates came out to celebrate the occasion. Seated with Denai are her parents Brenda Beckford and Paul Beckford. Pictured in the back row are Principal Nicole Watson along with high school and club coaches, and Brenau University’s Coach Michael Carter.
Denai played on Chapel Hill’s Junior Varsity and Varsity teams for 4 years, winning multiple county championships and earning awards such as MVP and Honorable Mention for Region 6-AAAAA. She has played club for 5 years and is Team Captain of Rio Volleyball Club’s 17s National Team. She has competed at various regional and national tournaments including AAU National Volleyball Championship in Orlando, FL and Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier in Iowa, NE.
After viewing video clips of her games, Coach Carter contacted Denai with an invitation for her to practice with Brenau’s Golden Tigers. At the practice he confirmed what he had seen and liked on the video clips. He was interested, but Coach Carter stated he “also needed to see her play under pressure." So two days later, he scouted her playing at the Big South National Qualifier, Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Her performance convinced him to recruit her, and only days later he extended an offer for a volleyball athletic scholarship to play for Brenau University. According to Coach Carter, “Denai has the physical and intellectual tools needed to play the game.”
Despite interests from other colleges and universities, Denai stated that she found her fit both academically and athletically at Brenau University located in Gainesville, GA. Her goal was to take her game to the collegiate-level and she is excited to start her new journey as a Golden Tiger. She plans to study Biomedicine – Physician Assistant Studies. Denai was also awarded merit and academic scholarships.