Fun at Hot Winter Nights

More than 1,000 beach volleyball fans watched the 8 visiting AVP Pros mix it up on the sand at The E Center on Saturday night. Prior to the event, the Pros provided a clinic for guests from the Boys and Girls Club and demonstrated their Guitar Hero skills. Based on conversations with some of the Pros, I couldn't help but be impressed by their approachability, genuine appreciation for what the sport has brought to them, and desire to grow the sport. It was great to listen to Jake Gibb as he articulated how much his development as a player here in Utah meant to him.

The crowd got noisy and obviously enjoyed the great play in both the women's and men's round robin and in the culminating mixed fours. Lots of folks stuck around afterward to meet the Pros and get an autograph and picture.

Jen Kessy Boss was the women's winner and Todd Rogers won the men's side. As importantly, the fans were treated to great shot-making, hitting, and exciting rallies. Hard to believe that the players are in such good playing form in February - but then, they are Pros. During breaks in the action, lucky fans participated in hilarious on-court competitions.

Thanks to the emcee for the evening for repeatedly drawing attention to Wasatch Beach Volleyball. We distributed lots of cards and Bump. Set. Chill. tee shirts during the event. There seems to be a growing awareness of what we are planning for the season at Wasatch Beach, and pent-up interest in seeing winter turn to spring and sand between our toes.

Thanks to the AVP and the Hot Winter Nights sponsors who helped make this tour stop possible: Johnsonville Sausages, Barefoot Wines, Crocs, Paul Mitchell. Thanks, as well, to Bajio Grill for the Friday night event.

After the event, all 250 tons of sand that were used to form the Hot Winter Nights court were trucked to Wasatch Beach, as pictured above and on the Web site. The HWN sand will be mixed with the sand from the original court which includes small amounts of sand from more than 20 beaches around the world.

Post P.S. Many thanks to Matthew who alerted me to an error that I had made in the original post. As we say on the beach, "My bad!" Also, check out the terrific comment below from Heidi. Speaking of comments, Todd Rogers posted on his winning experience in Salt Lake on his blog.

Rogers, Rosenthal and Jennings round out the field at Hot Winter Nights

Todd Rogers and Sean Rosenthal


Casey Jennings

In previous posts, I featured Jake Gibb on the men's side and the terrific AVP women pros who will compete at Hot Winter Nights on February 14th at the E Center. The rest of this event's great lineup includes Todd Rogers, Sean Rosenthal and Casey Jennings. Not bad to have three of the four 2008 US men's Olympians at this tour stop - and Casey is no slouch either.

Recall that Jake and Sean played together throughout the season and took fifth at the Olympics. Sean is known on the tour as "the Son of Jor-El" for his ability to leap tall buildings. Todd Rogers ("the Professor") and his partner Phil Dalhausser won gold in Beijing and 12 AVP Crocs Tour Titles in 2008. Todd was named Best Defensive Player on the tour 5 years in a row.

Casey "the Kid" Jennings and long-time partner Matt Fuerbringer won in San Diego in 2008. Casey has the longest active winning streak on the tour, having won at least one event in five straight seasons. Casey, a BYU grad, has at least one more claim to fame as husband of Kerri Walsh. Kerri and Casey recently announced that they are expecting their first child.

So, congratulations all around for success on and off the court. Should be fun watching them in action at the E Center on Valentine's Day.

AVP Women at Hot Winter Nights

The AVP's Johnsonville Hot Winter Nights stop at The E Center in West Valley City is rapidly approaching. The event features four female and four male AVP Pros in a best-of-the-beach format.

The AVP women who will compete in Salt Lake on February 14th are Nicole Branagh, Lauren Fendick, Jen Boss and April Ross. The Pros are pictured here in the order listed.

One of the interesting story lines on the women's side has to do with the fact that Jen Boss and April Ross played as a team throughout the 2008 Crocs Tour. You will get to see them play both as a team and on opposite sides of the net given the Hot Winter Nights format.

I'm hoping that we'll see lots of parents and their high school-aged daughters at Hot Winter Nights. Why? In part, because more than one-third of those who play beach volleyball regularly are women.

As importantly, with the NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics recommendation that sand volleyball (women's 2's) be recognized as one of the emerging NCAA sports, young women should be looking forward to opportunities to play beach volleyball at the collegiate level. That, in turn, should prompt parents to consider this new sports option and local high schools to prepare their athletes for these opportunities.

It is important to credit the women who have helped build the sport over the years, including the current role models who will compete in Salt Lake. I urge young women and their parents to come out to support these great athletes and, in so doing, demonstrate that the women's beach game is indeed an emerging sport.

Hot Winter Nights Preview - Jake Gibb

Four female and four male AVP Pros will compete during Hot Winter Nights at the E Center on February 14th. You'll find pictures of the eight Pros and links to their AVP bios on the Hot Winter Nights page on the WBV Web site.

We're really fortunate that Jake Gibb is one of the eight Pros who will be playing in Salt Lake. Jake is well-known to the Utah volleyball community, not only because he is from Bountiful and went to the U, but because he has returned to Utah to play in events on occasion. Jake is also known and respected because of his success on the AVP Tour. Jake and his partner, Sean Rosenthal, represented the USA during the 2008 Olympics, placing fifth.

It should be enough to want to check out of winter and onto the sand for a few hours at Hot Winter Nights. If that isn't enough, come out and cheer for Jake - a local success story who continues to do great things for the sport of beach volleyball both nationally and locally.

Hot Winter Nights Preview

Last winter I happened to be in Madison, Wisconsin when the AVP's Hot Winter Nights Tour hit town. That night the temp was bitterly cold, but I wasn't about to miss the opportunity. Besides, I was curious to see how many other beach volleyball fanatics were in the area and how the AVP would execute the indoor format.

True to form, the AVP did a great job replicating the look and feel of the stadium court at a beach tour stop, notwithstanding the cavernous environment of the Alliant Energy Center. While the cold kept the numbers down, the crowd got noisy, obviously engaged by the competition and the format.

When Mike and I discovered that the tour would stop in Salt Lake in 2009, we immediately offered our assistance to the AVP. As an Ambassador for the event, WBV is pleased to be able to support and promote the event. We're also offering a couple of special ticket packages for groups. Information about the event and tickets is on the WBV Web site. In subsequent posts, we'll feature the AVP Pros who will compete in Salt Lake, starting with Utah native Jake Gibb.

After the fun in Madison last winter, the 200 tons of sand that had been brought in to create the Hot Winter Nights court wound up at the University of Wisconsin. The UW women's volleyball team cross-trained on the sand in advance of a Spring beach tournament. This year, WBV is working with the AVP to use the sand at Wasatch Beach after Hot Winter Nights.