Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
And greetings from Myrtle Beach, where my family has been hosting reunions for 29(ish) years and where I’m taking my first vacation in… I have no idea how long. Still, I’m sending you this, because I enjoy it, and because I got a kick out of an email from a loyal reader/listener/watcher with whom I enjoy bantering:
Got any drama for us beach fans?
Not really. Aside from Kent Steffes and the chicken sh** sandwichit’s been a mostly drama-free year. Next week’s Manhattan Beach Open could prove dramatic, in that it will be the final MBO for Tri Bourne, Phil Dalhausser (although I don’t entirely believe it…) and Alison, and maybe a few others. The Hermosa Open remains drama free, as Mark Paaluhi piles on one sponsor after the next, including Chevron and the Sea Sprite, whose makeover is positively astounding. We’ll have our international wild cards announced soon.
The most drama I see, in a sporting sense, is the race to World Champs, which begins again this week with the Baden Challenge. We just signed a new sponsor, SHIELD, to be our presenting sponsor for our World Champs updates, following all Elites from here on out, so those episodes will become more regular.
All in all, I’d call it a fairly equanimous beach landscape. Maybe we need more drama, like the NFL, where we have contract holdouts and ownership spats, or college football, with its playoff format fighting and B1G arguing for 4 automatic berths into the playoffs. Drives the news cycle, you know?
One place we know there will never be drama, however, is with this week’s podcast guests: The forever lovable TKN.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This past week featured the No. 1 ranked female team in the world in Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher, that lovable duo who becomes ever-more lovable every time you put a camera and mic on them. They did it again with this week’s podcast episode, which we recorded in Gstaad:
Playing Under the Eiffel Tower
The most unforgettable site I’ve seen in beach volleyball is undoubtedly the 2024 Olympic setup, which placed a court under the Eiffel Tower. It was magnificent in every sense. What was it like to play under it while representing your country in your first Olympics?
TKN chatted about it.
Beyond The Sand: Gstaad Edition
In our third episode of Beyond The Sand, Daniel Freitas hit the road, capturing all of the majesty of Gstaad. It is without a doubt the best episode yet, and one that will have you closing your eyes to avoid seeing the prices and booking tickets to Switzerland in an instant.
News Around the Beach
- USD adds a beach program. In an industry of sports cutting, the University of San Diego reversed the trend, ADDING a beach program to one of the best beach volleyball cities in America. Exciting times for the sport. Now the question: Who is going to head the program?
- Beach Pro Tour heads to Austria. After a few weeks off, the Beach Pro Tour picks back up again this weekend with the Baden Challenge. Miles Evans and Chase Budinger are the only USA Volleyball men’s team playing — they’re seeded 11 in the main draw — while the women’s side is its usual self: mobbed with Americans. Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle, Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry, Deahna Kraft and Molly Phillips, Kim Hildreth and Teegan Van Gunst, Maddie Anderson and Brook Bauer are all straight into the main. That might be a record. Here are the entry lists.
- We now have an ad free tier for audio. Tired of listening to ads? I saw a bunch of comments on the ad frequency in Rogan podcasts, and figured I’d give our listeners an ad-free option. For 5 bucks a month, you no longer have to listen to ads, and you support the show. Win win. Here’s the link where you can become a patron.
- 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. This week’s you actually can’t get early, because we have some time-sensitive news that will be dropping, but you can tune into several we’ve already recorded.
- Coming up on Wednesday we have Gary Green, a specialist in human behavior who breaks down how to coach Gen Z athletes — and how to recruit them. Absolute banger of an episode.
Where You Can Follow The Pod
- We’re essentially working to become the new VolleyballMag. A big part of that is building a Facebook presence, so we’re building a page. Would be awesome if you could follow us there!
- Spotify, obviously. Linked below
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
