Good afternoon, beach volleyball fans,
To be fully honest, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to send a newsletter this week or just, ya know, let it be the holidays, since there is zero beach volleyball news. But what the heck.
I just wanted to write in, tell everyone to have the merriest of Christmases, and spread some holiday cheer.
And give you the gift of recommending Lee Feinswog’s volleyball newsletter, 900 Square Feet, which covers indoor and beach on a daily basis as well as he did when he was running the show at the now-mostly-defunct (sadly) VolleyballMag.com.
Larry Hamel, too, continues blasting out the content on the indoor front at his All Volleyball Substack. So if you missed any of the fantastic NCAA Championship tournament — and its HUGE TV numbers — give those boys a follow. They got you covered.
I also wanted to make sure this week’s podcast guest, Marco Krattiger, got his due.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This week Marco Krattiger — the first international beach player I ever met! — and I cruised around Adelaide at the World Champs, talking all things Swiss beach volleyball, his huge season, why Christian Sorum is so sneaky funny, and a whole lot more.
You can:
Give us a follow on Spotify if you haven’t already.
Best Defensive Teams
Marco Krattiger and I chatted about who the best defensive teams in beach volleyball were, and his comments about David Ahman bending the rule of physics gave me a good chuckle.
News Around the Beach
- It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Last chance to get last-minute beach volleyball gifts. Our most popular write-up, every year, without fail, is up: The 2025 Ultimate Beach Volleyball Gift Guide. Go get that beach volleyball enthusiast in your life some swag and equipment and merch and all the rest.
- 1,000 hours outside! Our New Year’s Resolution/Goal was to get Austin outside for 1,000-plus hours this year. We crossed the rubicon in Pompano a few weeks ago. My reflection on a fun year of outdoor time, and how important it was.
- Why did I play Pompano? To return to my glory as a player (LOL)? To win a ton of money? (bigger LOL). No. It was simple: To play with a good friend. My reflection from Pompano Beach, on the importance of play, which is one of the most read writeups on our site this year.
- 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 the boys, Tri Bourne and myself, catching up, talking dad life, taking fan questions, recapping our biggest takeaways from a crazy full year of kids and retirements and all sorts of seminal life moments. You can already watch on YouTube 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
