It’s Now Two Scenes in One at The Wedge

Peace returns to The Wedge . . . It’s not often that surfers go so far as to invite people to come and ride their local break.

But that’s the offer from Mission Viejo’s Tom Kennedy, one of the bodysurfers who fought last spring to ban boardriding at The Wedge, Balboa’s hot spot.

“We want to get word out that it’s a bodysurfing beach again,” Kennedy said. “The bottom line is a lot of bodysurfers weren’t coming down because of what was happening. It’s back to what it once was, and we want them to come down and enjoy it.”

Actually, it’s a bodysurfing and bodyboarding beach.

In May, the Newport Beach City Council voted to outlaw bodyboarding from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., from May 1 to Oct. 31. Since 1985, boards have been banned from the site during those hours from June 15 to Sept. 10.

Kennedy said The Wedge had been plagued by overcrowded waves since the mid-1980s, when bodyboarding became a craze. He said there were as many as 30 to 50 bodysurfers and 30 to 40 bodyboarders in the water at a time, depending on the size of the waves.

“It’s pretty easy to see why there were problems,” he said. “It was one step below ugly at times. It wasn’t fun to be down there.”

Kennedy and a group of 200 bodysurfers formed The Wedge Preservation Society. They proposed to the Newport Beach City Council a year-round ban of all boardriders at The Wedge. The council later approved a compromise, extending the ban to six months.

So far, Kennedy said, the compromise has worked.

“It has done some nice things,” he said. “It lowered the animosity level on each end. I’ve heard comments from boardriders that it’s a good thing, that there hasn’t been as much friction between the two groups lately.”

Kennedy said the friction before the compromise scared away several bodysurfers who had been regulars at The Wedge for years. Now, Kennedy said, they should come back.

“We’re talking generations back to 1940s and ‘50s who were riding there,” he said. “Many of those people left when it got out of control down there with the bodyboarding mentality.”

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Beach volleyball: The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ men’s and women’s tours are on break this weekend, but several tour stars are competing in a pro-celebrity benefit tournament Saturday in Santa Monica.

Scheduled to compete are San Clemente’s Karch Kiraly, Capistrano Beach’s Adam Johnson, Brian Lewis of Corona del Mar, El Toro’s Angela Rock and Kent Steffes of Pacific Palisades.

The tour players will team with stars such as Kim Wayans of “In Living Color,” rappers Kid N’ Play and Daphne Zuniga of “The Sure Thing” and “Melrose Place” in a four-on-four, mixed doubles competition.

The tournament starts at 10:30 a.m. on the beach in front of the Loew’s Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1700 Ocean Ave. Admission is free.

All proceeds from donations will go to the American Oceans Campaign, a nonprofit organization founded by actor Ted Danson to restore and preserve the ocean.

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Add volleyball: Entries are available for the Sideout six-player team challenge, a grass court tournament scheduled for July 21-25 at UC Irvine’s athletic fields.

The tournament features 12 age-group, co-ed and corporate divisions to be played on 75 courts. Entry fee is $125 per team in the co-ed and age-group divisions, and $350 for the corporate division. Co-ed and age-group players get T-shirts, and corporate players get T-shirts and shorts. All proceeds from the tournament go to UC Irvine men’s volleyball scholarships.

For more information, contact Anteater Coach Andy Read at (714) 856-8253.

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Play of the year: Kiraly and Steffes had some impressive digs in their comeback victory at the Killer Loop Manhattan Beach Open last weekend. But they have nothing on AVP tour newcomer Anjinho Bacil of Brazil.

At an Ocean City, Md., tournament two weeks ago, Bacil used a bicycle kick, similar to Pele’s trademark soccer kick, to put the ball over the net from the back line.

Bacil and partner Jose Liola lost the point, and the semifinal match, to Scott Ayakatubby and Tim Hovland. But Bacil’s play was still one to remember.

Bacil and Liola have finished second at Ft. Worth, Tex., this season, and they should be a factor at the $150,000 Miller Lite Seal Beach Open, Aug. 13-15.

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Surf report: According to Surfline-Wavetrak, a strong South swell off the coast of South America supplied head-high waves over the past week. Strong storm activity continues to pour off Antarctica and is sending a major southwest swell that will fill in through the weekend.

Three- to five-foot waves, with some sets up to eight feet are expected at some South County beaches. A strong south current and rip tide will continue throughout the weekend.

Hurricane Calvin lost most of its energy when it crossed the Mexican mainland. For more information about Surfline, call 1-800-940-SURF.

Volleyball Notes

One of the biggest victories of Cammy Ciarelli’s three years on the beach tour was last week, when she and partner Holly McPeak of Manhattan Beach won the prestigious Killer Loop Manhattan Beach Open. Ciarelli, girls’ volleyball coach at Huntington Beach High, and McPeak, a former UCLA standout, beat El Toro’s Angela Rock and Carlsbad’s Nancy Reno, 15-11, in the finals.

Former Laguna Beach High standout David Berney led Kokoro volleyball club’s 18-and-under team to a fifth-place finish in the 72-team field at the Junior Olympics last weekend in Kansas City, Mo. The 18-and-under team finished the season 105-52 with five tournament titles. Kokoro’s 16-and-under team, led by All-Americans Dan Styles of Laguna Beach and San Clemente’s Gabe Gardner and Brandon Taliaferro, placed fourth out of 50 teams, and the 14-and-under team, led by All-American Tyler Herron, was 13th out of 22 teams.