GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Former beach volleyball champion Randy Stoklos worked with camp student Laurie Lawson last week on Queen's Beach in Waikiki.
Sons of the Beach Even in retirement, it's not hard to convince Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos to come back to the office.
With their playing careers
behind them, the beach-volleyball
legends are giving backBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comWhen the office you've known most of your life is the beach, it's easy to understand why they would linger.
Smith and Stoklos are easily beach volleyball's most recognized team. During their 11-year partnership (1982-1993), they won 115 domestic and international tournaments together, a mark not likely to be threatened anytime soon.
Through their efforts in promoting the sport, beach volleyball was added to the Olympics in 1996. Smith and Stoklos were recently named the Federation of International Volleyball's Team of the Century in an induction ceremony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Both have retired from playing professionally -- Stoklos in 1998 and Smith in 2001 -- but they are far from done working for the sport. Part of their latest pursuits involves instructing and preparing the next generation of beach players.
They hatched the idea for a beach volleyball camp a few years ago and got it to flourish last summer in Southern California, where both grew up playing on the sand courts that dot the coast. With the approval of FIVB President Ruben Acosta, they will also be running an international training center this summer for Olympic hopefuls.
Last week, Smith and Stoklos simplified their vast knowledge and experience to a more fundamental level while conducting two camps on Oahu.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Randy Stoklos taught two beach volleyball camp students how to set last week.
Actually, only half of the Team of the Century made it. Smith was in Australia as an alternate for the television show "I'm a Celebrity -- Get Me Out Of Here."
Stoklos ran the clinics with Association of Volleyball Professionals tour member and Hawaii native Lia Young and former University of Hawaii setter and camp director Mike Kantor.
"It's pretty exciting for me to come out here," Stoklos said. "It's been quite a long time since the last time I played in an open at Fort DeRussy. I'm pretty excited about doing this camp here for the kids."
His excitement is in part due to the islands. Hawaii has been good to Stoklos. He and Smith picked up their 100th victory as a team at Fort DeRussy more than a decade ago and he estimates they've won 11 of the 12 tournaments held in Hawaii.
"Every time I come out to the islands and play, there's very much of an island spirit for myself. I've been well-received here," Stoklos said. "It's just a really nice thing to come out and play where people appreciate your talents and understand the game, that aloha spirit. I really do miss the people that came out here and cheered me on and made me play as good as I could."
Hawaii wasn't the only place people cheered. Smith and Stoklos have been victorious on just about every stop of the AVP tour and have won U.S. and World Championships together.
Their partnership was a record in longevity until they separated in 1993 to focus on different aspects of the sport. Eventually, Smith moved toward the international game while Stoklos tried for success on the domestic tour with other partners. He knew he wouldn't find it in the same capacity.
"It's pretty interesting for not playing for quite a long time with each other, when we do get together and play there's definitely a magic that happens," Stoklos said.
"It's very effortless. It's an enjoyment to go and play with somebody you know inside and out. That's really what gave us the ingredients to win all the tournaments we did. We are the epitome of a team and we work off of each other very well. We have the same goal and that is to make the sport bigger and do anything that we can to make it bigger."
A peek at their resumes shows there aren't many goals they haven't achieved.
Smith was the first volleyball player to be inducted to the UCLA Hall of Fame. He lobbied hard to get beach volleyball admitted as an Olympic sport and now he presides over the FIVB World Council and its 219 member countries.
Stoklos was beach volleyball's first million-dollar man. He ranks third on the all-time career earnings list with $1,798,569. He was a four-time MVP of the AVP. Their legacy in the sport as players would seem complete, so now they're working toward leaving a different mark in the sand.
"I've gone throughout my life going from beach to beach, to a lot of beautiful places, and around a lot of beautiful people always being outdoors and I can't say that would have happened if I were playing indoor volleyball or any other sport," Stoklos said.
"If we had the opportunity to go and have a place that we could leave a court, to leave our name in that way, it would definitely be a positive thing. I'd love to have an opportunity to do that."
After expenses are met, the proceeds from the camp will be donated to the United States Youth Volleyball League to promote the development of youth volleyball programs.
Federation of International Volleyball
Association of Volleyball Professionals
