City Brings Back Volleyball Tournament as Free Event

Signaling a return to the days of yesteryear, Manhattan Beach plans to bring back the Manhattan Open volleyball tournament this summer as an amateur event with free admission and a homespun bring-your-own-beach-chair attitude.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to direct city staff to create a nostalgic-style tournament June 13 and 14 with no bleachers, loud music or paid seating. Anheuser-Busch pledged $25,000 to the event and a local businessman offered the same as a co-sponsor. “This is a tradition that endures regardless of who plays,” said Councilman Steve Napolitano. “It will continue on.”

The 37-year-old Manhattan Open has been mired in controversy over the commercialization of public beaches for the last two years and was canceled last summer after legal constraints prohibited the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals from charging admission to the event.

The association recently dropped the tournament from its 1998 schedule after facing similar obstacles. The decision to create a hometown event reflecting its origins was music to the ears of beach-goers who insisted that the tournament remain free.

“Goodness has won over greed,” said Donley Falkenstien, founder of South Bay Coastal Alliance, the group that opposed the paid event. “Long live the Manhattan Open.”