Good afternoon, or morning, or whatever, beach volleyball fans,
Why the same intro as last week? Because I’m finally home, in Tallahassee, after a 27-hour travel day from Doha and, per usual, am living in my full-time residence of Jetlag Land.
It’s worth it.
Why? Because Kyle Friend and I have the funnest jobs in the world, commentating on the best beach volleyball players in the most high-level events of the season: Elite16s and, in this case, the Beach Pro Tour Finals.
In Doha, Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss delivered yet again, becoming the first back to back winners since Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst. Solid company to keep, ladies. On the men’s side, Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum delivered a statement of, as new coach Adrian Carambula said, “psychological damage” in sweeping Germany, Qatar and Sweden in the playoffs to win another Finals. It was awesome stuff.
Our recap podcast is up on our audio channels, and the video, with all of Frito’s sexy edits, will be on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube Channel in a day or two.
Meanwhile, back at home, Tri carried the SANDCAST torch, bringing on his longtime trainer, Mykel Jenkins.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This week’s podcast featured Mykel Jenkins, the longtime trainer of Tri Bourne and the man famously credited for John Hyden’s famous longevity. Tri and Mykel go back, a decade now, and this was a fun one between two guys who are clearly very comfortable with one another, talking high performance habits, what sets apart the greats, and Mykel’s work with Sara Hughes:
Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft Mic’d up!
As part of our growing collaboration with Beach Volleyball World, we have a ton of fun things coming down the pipe. Fantasy beach volleyball? Happened last week at the Rio Elite16 and at this weekend’s Beach Pro Tour Finals. International podcasts? More of them coming. Mic’d up content? You know it!
We put some mics on Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft during their quarterfinal win at the Rio Elite16, and the product was AWESOME.
Watch Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft mic’d up!
FUN NEWS! SANDCAST and Volleyball TV are partnering up. By the end of the year, the Road to Paris will feature highlights and clips from Volleyball TV to complement the coverage. Better yet: You can get 20 percent off your VBTV subscription if you use the code SANDCAST20.
News Around the Beach
- Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth won their second straight Beach Pro Tour Finals, and brought home another bag of $150K. Beyond that, it puts a final exclamation point on what is, prior to what Olympic fans think, a tremendous quad for USA Volleyball. Also, much love must be given to Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, who won their fourth straight medal, taking silver.
- Was that Adrian Carambula coaching Anders Mol and Christian Sorum in Doha? It sure was! The rookie coach wanted a statement to be made — and consider that more than done.
- The 2024 Ultimate Beach Volleyball Gift Guide. Per annual tradition, I made a list of the best Christmas gifts you can get for the beach volleyball enthusiast in your family. Let me know what I missed.
- We’ve got NEW SANDCAST MERCH! Been a long time in the works, and a long time coming. Perfect time to scoop up some Christmas gifts for the SANDCAST lover — if that is such a thing — in your fam!
- Best volleyball drills you can do by yourself. Our girls at FSU are on a six-week break, and we didn’t want them to get rusty, so I made a video detailing my favorite three volleyball drills you can do by yourself and sent it to them, but also put it up because I figured y’all might enjoy too. I did these literally every single day for years and years at my 24-hour Fitness in California.
- SANDCAST memberships are live. We’ve opened up memberships for anyone who wants to watch full podcast episodes on YouTube a day or two early.
- Coming up on Wednesday we have the McKibbin bros — only different. Jameson McKibbin makes his podcast debut alongside older brother Maddison. Don’t miss that one.
Much Love to the sponsors
We’re officially partnered with Better at Beach! Don’t know how this took so long, seeing the massive overlap between our audiences. So 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.
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. With season coming up, if you’re looking to get some new equipment, use our discount code: SANDCAST63 for 20 PERCENT OFF.
Introducing Balltime, the AI platform making breaking down film and statistics EASY (FINALLY!). Use our link for a discount and give it a try!
Need to get hydrated? Waiakea has all kinds of fantastic deals online, and good news for you (and us), you can get 20 PERCENT OFF using our discount code, Sandcast, at checkout. Aloha, y’all.
SANDCAST is fueled by a lovely mix of three main ingredients: We LOVE to do it, people enjoy listening to it, and sponsors fund our ability to do so. We only partner with sponsors we love, and we are so fired up to have Athletic Greens join the show! And they’re hooking up our listeners with a full year of Vitamin D for FREE, as well as five totally FREE travel packs!
Appreciate y’all for listening, reading, and loving the beach like we do.
Have a great week!
SHOOTS!
Tri and Travis (and Savvy)
