A Day at the Beach With Some Volleyball Thrown In

Beach volleyball, you’ve come a long way.

Twenty years ago the winners of tournaments in Southern California were awarded a trophy, a handshake and, if they were lucky, a six-pack of beer. This week the world’s top players are gathered in Atlanta to introduce the two-man game as an Olympic sport.

Thanks to the increasing popularity of the men’s and women’s professional tours, beach volleyball is enjoying a rapid increase in prize money, endorsements and television coverage. The Olympics figure to provide another boost.

The old days are gone forever, but those longing for a taste of the sport’s humble beginnings can find it this weekend at the Jose Cuervo Beach Volleyball Series event in Hermosa Beach, just north of the pier.

Although prize money is awarded to winners in the men’s and women’s open divisions, the tournament draws mostly amateurs and also provides competition in A and B skill categories. The Cuervo series has drawn kudos for having a more laid-back atmosphere than found at pro tournaments.

“There’s not quite as many egos there,” said Tony Zapata, a Topanga resident and pro beach tour veteran who is playing in Cuervo events for the first time this year. “People are more down to earth and in to having a good time.

“You can have a beer before the finals and people won’t frown at you.”

Zapata, who played on Pierce College’s 1988 state championship team, is one of four players with ties to the Valley who have qualified for the inaugural winner-take-all $4,000 California Championships on Sunday. The others are Tom Black of Reseda, Mary Baily of Calabasas and her partner, Shaney Fink, the boys’ and girls’ volleyball coach at Notre Dame High.

Zapata and partner Rico Guimaraes are hoping for a big weekend. They will compete today and Saturday in the Milwaukee Open, an Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tournament, before catching a flight back to Los Angeles early Sunday in time to play in the California Championships.

Zapata and Guimaraes qualified for Sunday’s tournament by placing second last month in Santa Barbara, one of five California stops on the Cuervo tour. Professional players are allowed to compete in Cuervo events as long as they are not ranked among the top 24 in their pro leagues.

Also in that category are Baily and Fink, who will compete in a Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. event in Long Beach on Saturday. If they fail to qualify for Sunday’s competition, as Baily expects, they will switch to the Cuervo tournament.

“We’re excited about playing Sunday,” Baily said. “The Cuervos are not as stressful as the WPVA tournaments. It’s just a little easier atmosphere.”

Not to mention easier on the pocketbook, she added.

“One of the problems with the WPVA is you have to invest your own money if you want to travel and play, unless you have a sponsor,” Baily said. “With the Cuervos, there are local events in California and people don’t have to fork over a lot of money.”

Baily, 34, a former standout at Chatsworth High, Pierce and Pepperdine, and Fink qualified for the California Championships with a second-place finish two weeks ago in Santa Cruz.

Finalists in the men’s and women’s open divisions Saturday at a Hermosa Beach tournament will join finalists from the other four previous California tour events in Sunday’s tournament.

Zapata, 26, says the Cuervo events are a throwback to a more innocent era in beach volleyball, compared to the elitism of the AVP tour.

“I call the AVP, ‘The Show,’ ” he said. “It’s just a circus atmosphere. It’s really a sight for the eyes, the attitudes on and off the court are not to be missed. You’re playing against the best players in the world.”

The highlight of Zapata’s five years on the AVP tour came last month when he and Guimaraes, a native of Brazil who lives in Manhattan Beach, upset Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh in the first round of the Atlanta Open.

Dodd and Whitmarsh, one of the AVP’s top teams and an Olympic gold-medal favorite, trounced Zapata and Guimaraes, 15-1, in their next meeting.

“It doesn’t matter,” Zapata said. “We’ll always have the memory of beating them.”

Black, 22, and partner Tyson Kerr fared well in their first Cuervo event last week, placing second at Ocean Beach in San Diego. The former teammates at UC San Diego were unable to play in the final after Kerr suffered leg cramps late in their semifinal victory.

Black, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter, was recently named small college player of the year by Volleyball magazine, representative of the nation’s top player in a non-scholarship program.

Black aspires to play on the AVP tour but first hopes to land a contract next month with a professional indoor team in Switzerland. In the meantime, he’s keeping sharp by playing on the beach.

“It’s competitive,” Black said of the Cuervo events. “It’s not the AVP, but it’s the best of the amateur tournaments. It’s not like Karch [Kiraly] and Kent [Steffes] in the final, but it’s cool.”

Black, a former All-Southern Section player at Crespi High, says if his plans in Europe fall through, he might hook up with another partner and play in the Cuervo tour’s final event--the $30,000 National Championships on Oct. 5-6 in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Fla. Kerr, from San Diego, will be playing in Europe by then, having signed a contract with a German indoor team.

Open division winners and runners-up at each of the 18 Cuervo tour events qualify for the national tournament. Four wild-card teams from regional events will be selected.

“It’s definitely a good opportunity,” Zapata said. “And you don’t have to play against the best players. You don’t have to play against Whitmarsh and Dodd in the first round.”

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Interested in incorporating a new activity into your workout routine? If so, you’ll probably want to check out Body Jam, an all-day fitness event Aug. 24 at the L.A. Fitness Sports Club and the Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills.

Expert instructors will demonstrate new trends in aerobic exercise, including step and low-impact aerobics, in-line skating and power pacing.

Information: 800-600-2540, ext. 566.