Taylor Church

Athlete, author, and avid traveler

Taylor Church, or just Church as to not get confused with the throng of other Taylor’s around, is intriguing to many in the Utah and national roundnet scenes.  You’ve seen him win nearly every Utah tournament over the past couple years, and has gotten some national attention.  But let’s get to know the man behind the star.

Church was born in Seattle and moved around to various cities as a kid and ended up in rural Utah, a town called Monroe.  He was a basketball star, has helped coach high school teams in the past and still plays in multiple rec leagues to this day.  He moved up north to Utah County to study History at UVU, specializing in Holocaust Studies; and he has turned his love of reading and writing to pursue the life of an author.  He has written 2 books so far, I’m Trying Here and Return Not Desired, with a 3rd novel on the way.  If you really want to get to know inside his mind, and his heart, I would highly recommend reading them by the way.  (Get a copy from Church himself and he’ll sign it with a personal message - sneaky way to get a star athlete’s autograph). 

Now to some of his roundnet accolades.  He started playing in 2016 after a friend introduced him to the beloved sport.  He’s played in a total of 33 tournaments so far, with 10 different partners, and podiumed in 22 of them.  He’s won 17 Utah Roundnet tournaments, and helped qualify 3 other players for premier division after qualifying himself at the 2017 Spikeball™ Roundnet Association Nationals. 

His latest achievement which he and Spencer Schmidt attained at the end of the 2018 season as the #13th ranked team, Spikers Anonymous (give them a follow on insta) was qualifying for Pro Division at the 2018 Nationals.  They pushed hard and traveled the country the final half of the 2018 season and after placing 4th in the Chicago Grand Slam and 5th at West Regionals, Spikers Anonymous got the invitation to play in the Pro Division. They were voted the Most Improved Team nationally in 2018, and Church himself was voted the 30th best player in the world - and 11th best in the West Coast.



Although Church is very competitive, even personally tracking all of his wins and losses in every pick up game he plays in, he can be seen all the time showing the ropes to new up and comers and helping others become more competitive. So don’t be intimidated to ask him for any advice as he’s always happy to help!