Hello all... I noticed this awesome article on the bvbinfo.com site.
The article has some great photos of the guys working with volleyball
players in their clinic.

I could have sworn that Smith/Stoklos got their 100th win in Phoenix.

Oh well, just thought you'd want to know how our guys are doing!
Jocelyn




http://starbulletin.com/2003/03/03/sports/story1.html

Sons of the Beach

With their playing careers
behind them, the beach-volleyball
legends are giving back

By Grace Wen
gwen@...

Even in retirement, it's not hard to convince Sinjin Smith and Randy
Stoklos to come back to the office.

When the office you've known most of your life is the beach, it's
easy to understand why they would linger.

Smith and Stoklos are easily beach volleyball's most recognized team.
During their 11-year partnership (1982-1993), they won 115 domestic
and international tournaments together, a mark not likely to be
threatened anytime soon.

Through their efforts in promoting the sport, beach volleyball was
added to the Olympics in 1996. Smith and Stoklos were recently named
the Federation of International Volleyball's Team of the Century in
an induction ceremony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Both have retired from playing professionally -- Stoklos in 1998 and
Smith in 2001 -- but they are far from done working for the sport.
Part of their latest pursuits involves instructing and preparing the
next generation of beach players.

They hatched the idea for a beach volleyball camp a few years ago and
got it to flourish last summer in Southern California, where both
grew up playing on the sand courts that dot the coast. With the
approval of FIVB President Ruben Acosta, they will also be running an
international training center this summer for Olympic hopefuls.



GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@...
Randy Stoklos taught two beach volleyball camp students how to set
last week.

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Last week, Smith and Stoklos simplified their vast knowledge and
experience to a more fundamental level while conducting two camps on
Oahu.

Actually, only half of the Team of the Century made it. Smith was in
Australia as an alternate for the television show "I'm a Celebrity --
Get Me Out Of Here."

Stoklos ran the clinics with Association of Volleyball Professionals
tour member and Hawaii native Lia Young and former University of
Hawaii setter and camp director Mike Kantor.

"It's pretty exciting for me to come out here," Stoklos said. "It's
been quite a long time since the last time I played in an open at
Fort DeRussy. I'm pretty excited about doing this camp here for the
kids."

His excitement is in part due to the islands. Hawaii has been good to
Stoklos. He and Smith picked up their 100th victory as a team at Fort
DeRussy more than a decade ago and he estimates they've won 11 of the
12 tournaments held in Hawaii.

"Every time I come out to the islands and play, there's very much of
an island spirit for myself. I've been well-received here," Stoklos
said. "It's just a really nice thing to come out and play where
people appreciate your talents and understand the game, that aloha
spirit. I really do miss the people that came out here and cheered me
on and made me play as good as I could."

Hawaii wasn't the only place people cheered. Smith and Stoklos have
been victorious on just about every stop of the AVP tour and have won
U.S. and World Championships together.

Their partnership was a record in longevity until they separated in
1993 to focus on different aspects of the sport. Eventually, Smith
moved toward the international game while Stoklos tried for success
on the domestic tour with other partners. He knew he wouldn't find it
in the same capacity.

"It's pretty interesting for not playing for quite a long time with
each other, when we do get together and play there's definitely a
magic that happens," Stoklos said.

"It's very effortless. It's an enjoyment to go and play with somebody
you know inside and out. That's really what gave us the ingredients
to win all the tournaments we did. We are the epitome of a team and
we work off of each other very well. We have the same goal and that
is to make the sport bigger and do anything that we can to make it
bigger."

A peek at their resumes shows there aren't many goals they haven't
achieved.

Smith was the first volleyball player to be inducted to the UCLA Hall
of Fame. He lobbied hard to get beach volleyball admitted as an
Olympic sport and now he presides over the FIVB World Council and its
219 member countries.

Stoklos was beach volleyball's first million-dollar man. He ranks
third on the all-time career earnings list with $1,798,569. He was a
four-time MVP of the AVP. Their legacy in the sport as players would
seem complete, so now they're working toward leaving a different mark
in the sand.

"I've gone throughout my life going from beach to beach, to a lot of
beautiful places, and around a lot of beautiful people always being
outdoors and I can't say that would have happened if I were playing
indoor volleyball or any other sport," Stoklos said.

"If we had the opportunity to go and have a place that we could leave
a court, to leave our name in that way, it would definitely be a
positive thing. I'd love to have an opportunity to do that."

After expenses are met, the proceeds from the camp will be donated to
the United States Youth Volleyball League to promote the development
of youth volleyball programs.