Sand volleyball courts are ready at Highland Brewing in Asheville, NC
On the Saturday morning of March 5, temperatures had climbed to over 60 degrees and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was something Highland Brewing President and CEO Leah Wong Ashburn has been waiting for all winter.
She was all smiles and so were her friends, as they were enjoying the welcome warm weather on the new sand volleyball courts at Highland, playing the sport they love.
“It was the first time we’ve gotten to play with our socks off,” said Asheville’s Eric Orton. “The courts are just great. For the first few weeks, we had to play with socks because the sand was so cold.”
Ashburn said she’s wanted the courts for a long time.
“I dreamed about sand courts at Highland before I started working here in 2011. It’s been everything I envisioned,” Ashburn said.
The sand courts were completed in the fall of 2020 and were the brainchild of her and her husband, Brock, who is Highland’s vice president. In 2015, Leah Ashburn was named the president and then CEO in 2018 of the family business, which was created by her father, Oscar Wong, in 1994.
Leah Ashburn, 51, is a 1992 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate and also a 1988 Providence Day High graduate. She and her husband, Brock, 52, who is an engineer, both are volleyball fanatics.
Brock Ashburn also climbed the career ladder at Highland and wore many hats, he said, before becoming vice president in 2019. It was then that the Ashburns decided it was time to make their volleyball dreams a reality at the brewery.
“Leah and I both love the game so there was a personal agenda that led to idle talk with friends who play, and then genuine talks about feasibility,” Brock Ashburn said. “Design and construction took about nine months.”
At the same time, a disc golf course was also being constructed, and parts of it are adjacent to the volleyball courts, which are located on the meadow. Nine holes are completed and another nine are in the works, Brock Ashburn said.
“The final nine will be finished in summer of 2022,” he said. “The course takes up around 20 acres. Local disc golfers have been so supportive and collaborative in planning the course, proper use and preparation of some of the fairways.”
Brock Ashburn, a 1992 University of Charlotte graduate and 1986 Surry Central High graduate, said both of the new additions have had nothing but praise.
“We’ve had lots of use and many thank yous,” he said. “These amenities are well done and professional grade. Experienced players appreciate the quality and new players find it easy to try them out.”
A love for volleyball and each other
The Ashburns first met in Charlotte and the event was exactly what anyone who knows their backgrounds would suspect.
“At the urging of a dear friend in Charlotte who went to high school with Leah, I agreed to join her at a beer dinner in Charlotte in 2009,” Brock Ashburn said.
He had already known about her father, Oscar Wong.
“I was surprised to meet the daughter of a legend in craft beer who happened to be single. I was smitten,” he said.
Brock Ashburn also loved two things that his future wife did: Volleyball and beer. Leah Ashburn said she was new to the game as a sophomore at Providence Day School, then by her senior year, she was the team captain.
“I played for fun in college. Early in my career, volleyball was my social life, my exercise and my support system. I play about once a week now. It hurts but it’s worth it,” she said.
Her husband also plays when he can. After he earned a job at the brewery not long after marrying Leah, he made an immediate impact.
“As a self-employed engineer and general contractor since 2000, I have always strived to be ecologically conscious with every project that I have undertaken. Upon arrival at Highland I immediately started looking for ways to reduce waste and carbon footprint,” he said. “I oversaw installation of 1,045 solar panels and hundreds of motion detection LED lights and led efforts to harvest/reuse concrete and timber from the property. Past and current efforts include the design and build of many of the customer facing amenities around the facility, including the event center and rooftop, barrel room, meadow bar and bathrooms, volleyball courts and trails and disc golf.”
Still more to come
Leah Ashburn admits now that one of the most favorite parts of her workday is seeing the three new volleyball courts. She said they just seem to add to the spirit of Highland Brewing.
“The courts activate the whole meadow and add to the energy of the music, friends, families, disc golf and great fresh beer,” she said.
There are now full leagues during the week, and a mix of court reservations and pick-up play on Fridays through Sunday.
“With the courts right next to the meadow bar, professional equipment, a rinse station, and LED lights, it is just about perfect,” Leah Ashburn said.
The brewery has come a long way since its humble beginnings in a rented basement space of Barley’s taproom in 1994. Back then Oscar Wong had started the business to be solely designed for distribution offsite, Leah Ashburn said.
“It’s different from what he started, but he has always encouraged me to take Highland in the direction that spoke to me,” she said. “With his blessing and hard work from the entire staff, my husband Brock and I have followed our hearts. The beer, the brand, and the business model have all changed radically. I am grateful to my dad and all the customers who support us.”
Sitting on more than 40 acres, there is still plenty of potential for even more additions, Leah Ashburn said.
“We’re investigating several ideas but none are finalized, except for the back nine on the disc golf course. It’s well under way. There’s definitely more to come from Highland inside and out,” she said.
“We would like to continue the development of parts of the property and building that have been ignored for many years,” Brock Ashburn said. “This may include more trails, mountain bike amenities, more indoor sport opportunities in other parts of the building and utilization of the water tank in the parking lot in some creative way… stay tuned.”
Highland Brewing is open from 2-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday and from noon to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It is also open from noon to 7 p.m. Sundays. For more information, including how to join in volleyball leagues, go to highlandbrewing.com.
