Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
Transfer portal season is in full force in college football — and it is about to be bonkers in beach volleyball as well. Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft formed a seismic new partnership whose trickle-down effects will be felt probably to the 100th-ranked player. When a domino that high up the chain falls, it impacts everyone, and it’ll be weeks, probably, until everyone settles in with their new partners. Where people go from here is yet to be seen, and as Taylor Crabb predicts on this week’s episode of SANDCAST, the men’s side will also be entirely different.
2026 will be a season of change, no doubt, the great experiment before the Olympic race begins in 2027 and everyone is locked in for two years.
You know what doesn’t change? The Coach Your Brains out crew, who delivered another wonderful podcast this week.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This week we were SANDCASTING Our Brains Out with John Mayer and Billy Allen, the longtime hosts of Coach your Brains Out. We cover a ton of topics, landing on team culture, whether or not technique is actually important, and something called mudita. It was awesome.
News Around the Beach
- We hired Kelsey Knudsen to run our social media. For a long time, we remained a tight outfit at SANDCAST — just me and Tri Bourne, figuring it out. Frito came along to shoot and edit videos, a tremendous add. Now we have another member: Kelsey Knudsen is our social media manager, running all things Instagram. Why the move? It’s helped me get my brain back for the things I do best. Easily the best decision I made in 2025 was to get off socials, and Kelsey — whose full-time job is exactly this — is way better at it than we were anyway. Win-win. But here is a longer read on how Jonathan Haidt, Johann Hari inspired the decision, and how it has helped me get my brain back.
- Watch SANDCAST Episodes Early! Become a member of our YouTube Channel and you’ll get every piece of content days or weeks or, now, months, even, before anybody else.
- Coming up on Wednesday we have our most popular guests of all-time: Trevor Crabb and Taylor Crabb, dishing on their surprise run in 2025, their future as players and partners, and the state of US Volleyball. Must-listen — and you can already watch if you’re a member!
Much Love to the sponsors
We’ve been with Wilson Volleyball since day one, and we love the products they make — the best ball on the market, hands down, no questions asked. Use our discount code: SANDCAST-20 for 20 PERCENT OFF.
Watch VBTV for 10 percent off using our discount code, SANDCAST10.
We’ve got SANDCAST merch! Get yourself some swag.
SANDCAST adds another year with AG1. One of our longest-running sponsors, AG1, is back on the pod for another year. We’ve re-signed with the brand, and have changed our model with them, to a fully affiliate-model. So if you want to stay healthy AND help the show, please order with this link, which comes with a full year of Vitamin D for FREE, as well as five totally FREE travel packs!
We’re officially partnered with Better at Beach! If you want to get Better at Beach, use our code SANDCAST for 10 percent off all of their products, from online classes to in-person camps and more.
Appreciate y’all for listening, reading, and loving the beach like we do.
Have a great week!
SHOOTS!
SANDCAST Team
