April's Beach Volleyball Log

The Olympics are Over!

The Olympics are over and quite frankly Im not sure what to think about our American athletes. There was more behind the scene drama, less than 100% effort, showing off, and crybaby he said she said accusations than actual good old fashion "winning".

I thought there were more American primadonna wannabes than actual hard working athletic Gold medalists. I mean that is what you spend the last four years really working for. I think that is a shame.

For example to be so drunk that you have to be sent home before the closing ceremonies or to twist an ankle playing a pick up game of another sport that isnt yours before your competition or to be in a disco dancing before an important competiton- afterwards absolutely but before?

Just felt that we weren't represented well this year-as a team. There were alot of INDIVIDUALS doing THEIR thing this time.

tags: sponsors , girls volleyball,gold, silver, bronze, torino olympics, beijing olympics, summer olympics, winter olympics, bode miller,usa volleyball, high school volleyball,  beach volleyball aprils beach volleyball blog

Poles and the precarious pipe fitter

As with most things in Korea, anything that you want done usually takes a few tries until it's done properly and always takes time.  I recently had to undergo the venture of getting poles made for the volleyball net that I had so that the small by loyal league of players at Haeundae Beach could continue to play.  The venture began simply enough with a visit to a pipe fitter and what seemed like a simple request became as complicated as understanding quantum mechanics.  We were after all, both speaking different languages.  I was speaking the language of sense and sensibility

"I need two metal poles cut that I can place on top of each other, with a hook welded to the top two poles".  He was speaking the language of nonsense and chaos.  Pulling out everything from PVC plastic to steel piping - "cut how?" "Joined how?" "A hook??????" He brought in a translator who spoke no English other than to say "I translate." I ended up leaving him for 2 days to sort out the logistics and ended up with "the leaning poles of Pusan".  Four very heavy steel poles cut to 140cm each, held together by a sink joint that screwed the pipes together.... worked in theory I suppose just like communism and we know what happened there. 

The hooks to hold the net had been the major problem. "big hooks, medium hooks, no drill, welding???"  I ended up with two large hooks welded on to the top poles and that is how the leaning poles of Pusan were born.  After the first day of use it was evident that they just weren't functional and it was time to see the pipe fitter again.  This time I brought reinforcements.  Two other foreigners to experience the joys of Korean customizing.  "It doesn't work"  I told him as I held up the sink joints.  From that point what proceeded could only be topped by McGiver, after all, a man who can build a welding gun out of a piece of wire and a shoelace is worthy of honourable mention. 

The pipefitter came back a few minutes later with a new joint that the two halves could easily slide into.  Very good I thought - this will work.  "Ok?" He asked.  "Yes!" was the emphatic response and then he walked away.  "Wait a minute!" The joint was the same size as the pipes so it slid all the way down from the top to the bottom.   It would have to be secured at one end, either welded or screwed in.  He examined it closely and considered the predicament.  "TApe!" He said proudly.  "What!" Who was this guy, Red Green? "Tape, No!"  After another 30 minutes of negotiating and the assistance of 5 other Korean males who worked in the shop, it was agreed that the joint would have to be attached.  "Drill - NO!" he said, "Welding - NO!"  I finally figured out why he was so hesitant to weld or drill as I saw that he was missing some of his fingers.  As the 5 men stood staring at the poles as though they were the 'golden calf' with all the answers, my buddy Matt figured it was as good a time as any to pose the question "How many Koreans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"  At this juncture we really couldn't come up with a number but figured it would have to involve at least 1 scholar, a bureaucrat, a scientist, a tradesman, a conscriptee to stand guard and of course a translator amongst others. 

One of the younger men who had been standing amongst the crowd had an epithany.  "Drill!"... this must have been the scholar.  Next the scientist examined the joint and after removing it and placing it back on the pole, determined the point at which the screws should be placed.  The bureaucrat stood by and listened to the scientist and the scholar and nodded in agreement.  The tradesman went and got his drill and the conscriptee stood by.  When it was all over about 3 minutes later and the new joints were attached, poles ready to go, the translator popped his head out of the office.  "I translate for you" he said.  "OK" I said "tell them thank you for all the hard work".  He looked at me quizzically and said nothing.  After an hour and a half my friends and I bowed politely, waved goodbye and headed to the beach to put the new poles to work.  Now as I sit and gaze fondly at my Korean handcrafter volleyball poles, I marvel that they are functional and think back with fondness of the fingerless tradesman wondering what else I could possibly get made here.  I wonder how long it would take to get some new curtains made.

Beach Volleyball Korean Style

This is a great story submitted by a Canadian Player/Coach about Volleyball in Korea... This is greeat! Check It Out!!!

Beach Volleyball Korean Style

When I came to Pusan South

Korea

2 years ago there was a megalomaniac running the single court that was available and he'd only let players who could play at a pro level step on his court.  Since there aren't many players who retire from a pro circuit to move to

Korea

he never had enough people to play a game so he spent the bulk of his time showcasing his skills with drills. 

In

Korea

where anything that foreigners or 'waygooks' do is a spectacle, there was always a crowd and ample applause for a jump serve but no one to play with.  When he left later that season to move to another part of

Korea

, he left the beach volleyball set that he had fashioned from bits and pieces of found materials for me to use with the warning that I'd never find enough people to play. 

My first season running the program he was almost right because the rumors had spread and everyone knew that unless you were a proficient player there was no point in heading to Haeundae beach to step on the court.  My goal was to get the novice players out and teach them how to play so that there would be a large pool of players to expand the program.  I put an ad up on the

Pusan

web advertising a volleyball program that welcomed everyone regardless of skill to come to Haeundae beach to play pick up games or attend a clinic to learn the basic or intermediate skills of the game.  It worked and I had 10 players regularly attending the first season.  This brought the megalomaniac back to

Pusan

. Angry that not just pros were playing, he promptly picked up the equipment that he had left behind and closed down the program. 

Determined not to let beach volleyball die, I found an umbrella maker who could fashion some beach volleyball poles (a story unto itself) to hang the nets that I had brought over from

Canada

with me when I first arrived in

Korea

.  The new poles were heavy and awkward but did the job.  In our second season the program continued to grow to over 100 players from all over

Korea

.  The program was extended to include tournaments and this past year I joined with the Marriott hotel in

Pusan

to put on the first annual Haeundae beach open that encouraged the foreign and Korean communities to play together. 

Our seasons are long running from March to December when the sand gets too chilly to play in.  Numb toes just don't make it easy so we've shut the program down until March 2006.  I'm hoping that next season will be even better than the one that just passed with another expansion of the program and will hopefully bring more Korean players into the fold.  In the off season I'll be attempting to get some new equipment on a short trip back to Canada - it's time to retire the old awkward poles and actually get a pro system that's compact and can travel.  In the end the cost of the new equipment is outweighed by the love of the sport and the enjoyment that the program brings to the foreign community and the Korean spectators. 

The

Haeundae

Beach

open also promises to grow into an International tournament with continued commitment from the Marriott hotel which is something that

Korea

would benefit from.  There are a lot of Korean players out there who have yet to venture into the sand.  The program here in

Korea

is totally non-profit (I should know) but brings people from different backgrounds and cultures together under the umbrella of beach volleyball which truly is an international sport and language. 

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Interview with Bronze Medalist Melody Khadavi

This year the United States was represented in Beach Volleyball at the Maccabiah Games by Bronze Medal winners Melody Khadavi and Fran Seegull. I had the pleasure of interviewing Melody Khadavi for aprilsbeachvolleyballblog. 

                                                                       photo by April Chapple    

                                                          

How did you find out about the Maccabiah Games and what are the qualifications?
One day I was playing beach volleyball down at the pier in Santa Monica and my friend Jon Ahoroni asked me if I would ever be interested in playing in the Jewish Olympics. At first I completely thought he was joking because I never even knew the games existed. When I finally realized he was serious I told him I was definitely interested. Jon happened to be the chairman for the USA beach volleyball delegation so
technically my partner, Fran Seegull, and I were recruited by Jon.
The Maccabiah Games (the other name for the Jewish Olympics) is quadrennial like the Olympics and it always takes place in Israel. This year there is a new addition to the games which will take place in Australia and then in another 4 years it will be held in Israel again.

What was it like to represent the United States?

It felt very special to be a member of the United States delegation. Next to Israel, we were the largest group of athletes there so it felt amazing to be part of something so huge. Until this experience, I don't think I ever felt so patriotic and for the first time I think I finally understood what it meant to be an American. I felt so incredibly proud to have the letters USA imprinted on my bathing suit.
I have to admit that I was a little nervous about how we were going to be treated, but everyone we met seemed to be so welcoming and excited that we were there.

Describe your experience interacting/meeting/living with athletes from other countries.

I actually found that meeting the other athletes from around the

photo by April Chapple

world was one of the best parts of the entire experience. It was so exciting to walk around the opening and closing ceremonies exchanging articles of clothing with the other athletes. It was fascinating for me to see that so many Jewish athletes do exist in countries like China, India, Germany,
Switzerland, etc.

How many shirts did you exchange?
I was so excited about the idea of changing my USA gear with other countries, I ended up exchanging everything (except for my lovely White warmups:)                                 

                                                 photo by April Chapple

Describe your experience-regarding the playing environment...weather,courts,sleeping quarters, athlete's village.
It was very interesting because the first week we were given
one court for three teams (1 women's and 2 men's teams). It turns out that the court was full of rocks, glass, rusted horse shoes, and branches. The lines (boundaries) consisted of caution tape and the stakes were branches that were sticking out at a dangerous angles. We spent hours on court
maintenance by splitting up the court into 6 sections so that everybody had a chance to clean their area.
When we changed locations to where we were competing, the courts weren't set up, so on our own time we found a different beach (half an hour away) and tried to coordinate a bus that would drive us there everyday in order to train in different conditions.

As far as the weather goes, it was extremely hot and humid. It was definitely difficult switching from the nice cool Santa Monica breeze to the hot scorching sun in Israel (Though I must say that I did get a nice tan from it:) We strived to drink as much water as possible and when we weren't training we tried to get out of the sun. There were other ways of dealing with the heat. For instance, whenever possible, I would jump in
the pool and ocean and everyday I treated myself to a cooling glass of fresh watermelon juice.

The sleeping quarters were respectable. Unfortunately the first room we got at our second location was very untidy. There was lint and hair on our pillows and the floor looked like it had not been vacuumed in years. When we finally switched rooms to the 6th floor we got a room with an awesome
view of the ocean with a nice cool ocean breeze!:)

We were in a city called Netanya that was cute because that's where the athletes village was- full of shops and restaurants. The best part about our location was that we were walking distance from the beach. I do have to admit we all got a bit nervous every time we went to the busy town square. Although  it was unspoken, I think we all had internalized fears of a sudden bombing in a public area. Unfortunately, after our first day of competition there was a suicide bombing about 5 minutes away. After that happened, I think
we were all a bit shaken up. I think my only reassuring thought was that there was a lot of security around for us at all times.

What was practice like? How different was it there from what you are  used to here, describe any "tricky" unusual practice strategies that were employed.
The first week that we got there we were waking up at 5:30 in the morning in order to have time to eat breakfast and train. The buses that took us around the country left the hotel at 9:00am and we didn't get back until midnight. After the first week we were so exhausted from the bus rides and from the numerous travel stops we had to make throughout the day. In
addition, the heat was a factor and Fran and I both ended up getting sick and needing antibiotics:(

I found the Israelis to be very tricky about their "unusual practice strategies." Of course, like I mentioned earlier, there was only one net between 3 teams. Therefore the guys had to incorporate us into their workouts.
Sadly, we were all careful about diving because if we did we would probably cut our bodies up on all the extra junk in the sand.

When we changed locations we were told we were training with the "Israeli" teams, but once the first day of competition arrived they brought out a whole new team. And this was not just any team. This was Israel's national team, who
are mostly likely going to the Olympics in Beiijing. We were very surprised by this because we automatically assumed that the competition would consists of amateurs, just like the rest of the athletes from other countries.
So they tired us out the first week with the touring and the night before competition they had us standing for more than 7 hours for the opening ceremonies. On top of that they didn't feed us for about 7 hours. Finally at midnight they graciously handed us a small sandwich to hold us over to the next day:( Oh and the last thing I forgot to mention, in the hotels they fed us fried protein, which didn't make any of the athletes happy.

What was the social environment like? the people the non athletes?
The social environment was interesting to say the least. It was nice to meet all of the supportive parents of the athletes. Actually, the locals treated us like celebrities. Once they saw that we had Maccabiah credentials, they would ask "What sport you play? Where you from?" No matter what you said, it always seemed like they were impressed.

How long did it take to get acclimated? (time change, jet lag, sleep,
diet change).
I actually had the worst case of jet-lag:( I couldn't sleep the first 3 or 4 nights. I would walk into the lobby and check my email. Luckily, I wasn't the only one with this problem so I was able talk to the other athletes who were still awake:)
At first it was difficult for me to adjust to the diet change.                                                               photo by April Chapple 

Before I left for the trip I was eating a lot of grilled and cooked protein with brown rice and steamed vegetables and they were serving us fried protein with white rice and vegetables cooked in butter. Somehow, I was able to find
healthier combinations of food so that I would feel better physically before I played.

Any other notes,comments,recommendations that you would like to make?
Although I made this event seem unglamorous, I honestly did have the time of my life. I pretty much got to live my dream...play beach volleyball abroad and represent my country. Fran and I had been coached by Pat Zartman and he reminded us that most athletes only dream about this kind
of an opportunity.

I honestly feel so fortunate that I was asked to participate and I also feel so fortunate that I was able to find an awesome partner like Fran Seegull. If I loved beach volleyball before, I love it even more now. And now we have friends across the globe that want to come visit us and play. :)

I think the adversity we faced only made winning the bronze medal more valuable. During this experience I defintely got to work on my mental game and I know I now have more of a competitive edge on my game.

If you girls are reading this, it means you are already are aware of April's beach volleyball log. I definitely encourage you to tell your girlfriends about it because this can become something huge!
Imagine connecting globably with girls who play and to have the opportunity to hear from some of the legends we could only dream of meeting. We all share a common bond...we love the sport of beach volleyball. I think that it is great April started this, it was about time somebody did.:) THANKS APRIL!!

tags:

maccabiah games olympic games melody khadavi fran seegull pat zartman sharkie zartman photography photos sports beach volleyball womens sports jewish olympics us beach volleyball

                            

tags:

girls volleyball womens volleyball womens beach volleyball usa volleyball volleyball olympic volleyball volleyball voices girls health girls fitness girls sports womens health womens fitness college volleyball indoor volleyball grass volleyball disabled volleyball volleyball worldwide international volleyball womens sports

My Partner Mary Jane Smith

One of the great things about playing this weekend was being reunited with one of my former partners. I've been fortunate enough to play with great great players but Mary Jane Smith stands out because f her courage in the face of real adversity.

MJ and I went to three stops on the FIVB Tour in 2003 together. MJ had never been to Europe before and she decided that it was now or never. We went to the Switzerland Open first. We were in a hostel where all the other players from all over were staying and actually sharing bunk beds in close quarters. Thre was one bathroom on the floor that everyone -about 10 players had to share. And guess what you could wake up in the morning and walk right into a stall that had a male player next door. We made instant friend with the Canadian, German and I think Austrian players.

MJ was amazing. She told people that she was the oldest player on the FIVB Tour which may have been true but she didn't play like it. MJ has an amazing floater type jump serve that drops right when it passes over the net. She can do it from anywhere from the back line and she made a lot of points for us with it.

But what she could do that I've never seen anybody do is hit with both hands. MJ can spike a ball HARD with either her right or left arm. Its amazing. When the block goes up, they never know what to key in on becasue she just picks and chooses as she goes. You ant tell what she is going to do and I dont know how she does her footwork for her approach becasue that would just mess my spike jump up.

MJ has the most stamina of anyone I've seen. She does hundreds of sit ups and ab work and works harder than almost anyone I know.In our room she taught me some principles of yoga which does as a pre game warm up. She would make sure that we would always find a way to go practice with other teams from other countries no matter where we were.

Our itinerary was interesting.

We went from Gstaad, Switzerland) to Paris. We stayed in Paris for three days to visit . From Paris we took the famous train (that goes underwater) to London. London was awesome. We WALKED quite a bit-especially when we first got there trying to get to our first hotel. We walked forever with our luggage which just kept  getting heavier and heavier. But while there we took a bus tour on one of the famous red double decker bus and saw the entire city. From London we went to Heathrow and flew to Stavanger Norway.

Stavanger was interesting. It's a gorgeous city. The FIVB site is not on a beach but on a harbor. The lanscape and beauty is amazing. MJ went on a tour of the city.

When we got there it was cold. MJ and I by this time had met alot of players and had travelled a bit. But we weren't use to playing beach volleyball in the rain! Luckily we had brought turtlenecks and both teams played with bathing suits on top of turtleneck shirts and long sweatpants or black bicycle  shorts. It was funny but we played well.

I learned so much from MJ. I loved how she taught me how to enjoy life's journey. She showed me what living each moment to its fullest actually means.

MJ is a breast cancer survivor.

I will be inviting MJ to be a special guest blog author. Please stay tuned.

tags:

girls volleyball womens volleyball womens beach volleyball usa volleyball volleyball olympic volleyball volleyball voices girls health girls fitness girls sports womens health womens fitness college volleyball indoor volleyball grass volleyball disabled volleyball volleyball worldwide international volleyball womens sports