This weekend, at just 25 and 24 years old, Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil will officially become the youngest team in USA Volleyball history to compete in an Olympic Games. They will do so after a miraculous come-from-behind run that saw them win two gold medals in the final two events of the Olympic qualification process. They will do so after passing the GOAT, Kerri Walsh Jennings.

And in doing so, they will become the faces young beach volleyball players look to as their newest role models, as Claes and Sponcil once did to Walsh Jennings and Misty May Treanor and April Ross, who is also competing in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

It begs the question: How did Claes and Sponcil become so good, so fast? How did they make the jump from college – Claes at USC, Sponcil at UCLA – to Olympians in a matter of, in Sponcil’s case, two years?

There is no simple answer, but Claes shed some light on her preparation process throughout the Olympic qualification period, and the...

Coach Donny Hui just interviewed beach volleyball pro Mark Burik on YouTube show, THE DIG.  Mark is a professional beach volleyball player (AVP and FIVB World Tours), an athletic performance trainer, entrepreneur, and beach volleyball coach, as founder of Better at Beach Volleyball.

“Learn about Mark’s story of going from a serious baseball player, to picking up volleyball in college on a club team, to walking onto a Division 1 program, to becoming a professional volleyball player,” Coach Donny says. “Mark provides insights into his thought processes and work ethic that will inspire you to achieve your own goals!  Feel free to share this video with your friends to inspire them as well.”

Take it to the next level: Learn about our 7-day beach volleyball training camps.

We also have awesome online training tools and eBooks to elevate your game into greatness.

Transcript of The Dig #6 – Coach Donny’s interview with...

My name is Brandon Joyner. I'm from Chester Virginia and I've been coaching for VolleyCamp Hermosa since October of 2018.

I started playing when I was a junior in high school. I then went to George Mason University after that I was lucky enough to go play professionally overseas for two seasons, and switched over to beach volleyball where I played on the NVL for five years. Now I'm currently still playing on the AVP.

I got connected with VolleyCamp Hermosa by knowing Mark in college. The last couple years I've been hinting that I wanted to come out and finally, he gave me the push and the okay, and now that I'm out here I'm very excited to be working with him again. 

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I like coaching for VolleyCamp Hermosa because it really does feel like a family. I come out here every single day and I know that I'm going to...

By: Travis Mewhirter

For so long, prior to our Covid-19-induced quarantine, we've trotted out the rote answer when someone asks us how we are doing. 

"Busy," we say.

It's not a lie. Most of us are wildly, insanely, out-of-control busy. Busy with work. Busy with family. Busy with fighting for our next promotion. Busy cramming in a workout. We don't even think about it when we answer with that four-letter word, and, in reply, most will nod their heads, understanding. 

They're busy, too. 

Now, however, many of us are not so busy. We have more time than we've had on our plates since we were kids. Because we have more time on our hands than we are used to, we really have no idea what to do with it all. 

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How can we fill the hours that are normally runneth over with tasks and...

By Leo Keegan

June 26th, 2016. Was it just another day?

Before we answer that, let’s flashback to April 2th, 1995. It was the start of a 3-year period in which Sinjin Smith did not play an AVP tournament. One significant factor was Sinjin was working to grow beach volleyball internationally, playing and supporting the FIVB. And because of that, Sinjin Smith was persona non grata on the AVP. Imagine that, the most influential male beach volleyball player of all time was not playing on US soil.

But time heals all wounds, and on August 24th 2001 at the Manhattan Beach Open Sinjin was celebrated as one of the game’s greatest players of all time as he played in his last AVP tournament (finishing 9th) and retired. All of the past tension and conflict was just that -- in the past.

How many more fans would beach volleyball have if Sinjin had played in AVP tournaments during those years between 1995 and 1998? How many more battles between Randy Stoklos, his former...