INDIALANTIC — Seven teams took home championships Sunday after a two-day, 2-on-2 beach volleyball tournament at Howard E. Futch Memorial Park at Paradise Beach.

But the big winner was beach volleyball.

About 300 people attended the two-day event in which about 80 players participated, according to Josh Beers of Sandbox Volleyball, which organized the event.

"It was really rewarding. People started to come in at 7:30 in the morning and a lot stayed. We were
running out of places to put them," he said.

Having seen a story about the tournament, Debbie Buras of Melbourne brought her daughters, Shelby,
3, and Alex, 2.

"We came both days after I saw it in the paper, and it's been a lot of fun," she said. "The beach is right
here, too, so this is a nice destination and setting to take my girls to and teach them about beach volleyball. The games have been great, too."

Beers and Sandbox Volleyball partner Chuck Marcey say that is precisely the point, considering the growing popularity of their sport and the quality of players in the area who otherwise must travel around Florida in order to compete at their level.

"Why do I think it's so popular? Because it's played on the beach by girls in bikinis and guys with no shirts on," Beers said with a laugh. "Beach volleyball is a little like a big beach party with some competition."

The competition here is good. Aaron Critchfield of Cocoa is an open-rated player, meaning that he is among the sport's best.

Congenial and easygoing though he may be, Critchfield's competitive side was on constant display during the weekend's events and it resulted in a coed "A" title with Rachel Reichart, who also took a Women's "A" title with Monyka Paul.

"We have a couple of really good players here. We had 38 teams here Saturday and the play was highly competitive. I actually lost. But I love to play against great competition. If AVP players were to come here,
I'd love it. It would be fun, and it's always fun whenever there's a huge crowd," said Critchfield, the former Astronaut High diver and holder of a degree in finance from the University of Central Florida.

Tracey Bennish of Melbourne Beach, who otherwise is an accountant, has played indoor and outdoor
volleyball for 20 years and starred at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania. She has toured Europe for a USA Volleyball "scout" team and has played against professionals.

"A lot of these guys and women play regularly at Hoover (Middle). They just now are starting to play beach volleyball here. It's more fun and challenging, particularly to someone who did not grow up on the beach, like myself. It's easier on the body, but a better workout, too," she said.

Beers and Marcey have marketed both of their tournaments (the other took place in May) carefully, without huge splashes of cash. Sponsors are local businesses and the men hope the added visibility will help them as well.

"The whole thing about Sandbox Volleyball is to bring in people locally and bring in these players so we can be of benefit to both," said Marcey, who travels from Gainesville to work with Melbourne resident Beers. "This weekend, we had a lot of people who turned out to be spectators . . . mostly because of word-of-mouth."

Critchfield said the quality of beach volleyball events in Brevard is on the rise.

"It's kind of a grassroots thing, but you can see it getting better," he said. "You see that every tournament and it's great to be a part of it."