There will be cash and prizes given away for some of the winning teams! Cost is $20 per player.

Click here to register

Sandbox Volleyball’s 2-on-2 tournament Saturday near the terminus of Minutemen Causeway didn’t draw much attention from sun worshippers nearby, most of whom simply acknowledged the nets and players, faced the ocean and said little.

But by the time the semifinals rolled around, most of the beachgoers had turned to face the courts, and spectators, occasionally cheering, lined the deck of Coconuts restaurant.

“It’s gratifying,” said Chuck Marcey, an organizer of the event in which 35 players from around Florida participated during a weekend of festivities and sports tournaments elsewhere. “We’ve caught the attention of more people here and we’ve caught the attention of more people throughout the state. We’re getting the word out and extending our reach.”

The Men’s “AA” competition having been won by Orlando-area residents Jose Perez and Eddie Cherry, who stopped Andy Waterman of Melbourne and Ed Mosmiller of Vero Beach 28-20 in the final.

Monyka Paul of Vero Beach and Rachel Reichert of Winter Haven went undefeated in three games to take the women’s competition. Randy Bittner and Jason Lewis, also undefeated, topped the Men’s “A/B” division.

The irrepressible, AA-winning duo, who grabbed attention across the beach because of Perez’s hot pink sand socks, have played together for about a decade.

“You can’t wear pink socks and not back it up in the tournament,” Cherry joked. “We’ve played together forever, but kind of retired. But we came back and just won a tournament in Orlando and now this one. It’s still a lot of fun.”

It was for Paul and Reichert as well, the duo also having won the Sandbox women’s 2-on-2 “A” competition last August.

“This is rewarding for us because it’s hard to (play volleyball) right now. We’re both working and Rachel attends nursing school in Vero Beach,’ said Price, a teacher at Dennison Middle School in Winter Haven.

“We could play more and bigger tournaments, but we just have time to play the local ones,” Reichert added.

The men agreed. “We all would travel, and play more, but we all have 9-to-5 jobs,” said Mosmiller, who otherwise is chief perfusionist in the department of cardiovascular surgery at Indian River Medical Center. Waterman is a real estate broker in Melbourne.

Marcey could not have been happier.

“Playing on the beach at Cocoa Beach was something we always wanted to do and we are so glad to be here,” he said. “The city of Cocoa Beach has been so helpful to us, especially (recreation supervisor) Laird McLean and the recreation department. We now have plans to do more tournaments in the Melbourne Beach area. Our purpose is to bring people to Brevard County through beach volleyball. We’re bringing players to Brevard County and that is positive for us and for everyone. We love it here.”

Read on Florida Today

• 1st Place: Eddie Cherry and Jose Perez:
• 2nd: Andy Waterman and Ed Mosmiller

Women’s Open

• 1st Place: Monyka Paul & Rachel Reichert
• 2nd Place: Christine Johnson & Line Olievera

Men’s AA

• 1st place: Jason Lewis & Randy Bittner
• 2nd: Jeremy Prong & David Breny.

Men’s A/B

• 1st place: Justin Brown and Mike Islas
• 2nd place Jerome Brown and Mike Brown

Sponsors and players are all getting involved in the preparation for the Sandbox Volleyball Tournament on April 9, 20111. Let’s start our tournament season with a great event at a new venue.

Tournament Fun:

• Cash Prizes
• After Party @ Coconuts on the Beach
• Rally Towel for each player with the KILLER graphics

Tournament Details:

• 8:00 AM Check-In (All Divisions)
• 9:00 AM Start Time (All Divisions)

Prizes:

• Open: Cash Prizes / Tournament Vouchers
• AA: Tournament Vouchers
• A/B: T-Shirts

Registration: $50.00

*All prize packges will be based on participation and may have other items within the package such as gift certificates, cash, etc.

• Men’s AA: Miguel Garcia & Mike Jones
• Men’s A: Eric Marquez & Matt Jacobs
• Men’s BB: Robert Pentz & Jerome Jones
• Women’s A: Monyka Paul & Rachel Reichert
• Women’s B: Emily Upton & Jessica Brown

• Co-Ed A:
  • 1st: Rachel Reichert & Aaron Critchfield
  • 2nd: Tracey Bennish & Scott White
• Co-Ed B:
  • 1st: Christie Johnson & Andre Dorawa
  • 2nd: Chrstine Santulli & Eddie White

Click here to view photos from July 31

BY LYN DOWLING • FOR FLORIDA TODAY • August 2, 2010

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.”

Tournament Winners
Men’s AA: Mike Jones and Miguel Garcia
Men’s A: Matt Jacobs and Eric Marquez
Men’s BB: Bob Pentz and Jerome Jones
Women’s A: Rachel Reichert and Monyka Price
Women’s B: Emily Upton and Jessica Brown
Co-ed A: Aaron Critchfield and Rachel Reichert
Co-ed B: Andy Garawa and Christine Jones

The July 31st Tournament is heating up. Sponsors and players are all getting involved in the preparation for the Sandbox Volleyball Tournament on July 31st. The tournament will be about double the size of the last one with quite a few more sponsors and other goodies throughout the day.

Tournament Fun:

• Free Paddle Board Demos by Kitetricity Kite Boarding & Voodoo Stand Up Paddling
• Live DJ
• Cash Prizes
• Water Supplied by Charlie & Jake’s BBQ
• After Party @ Ichabod’s Bar & Grille (across the street) Each player receives a free beverage!
• T-shirt for each player with the KILLER July 31st graphics and sponsors
• Raffle Giveaways throughout the day
  • Meg O Malley’s Beach Cruiser Bicycle GiveAway
  • Gift Certificates to local restaurants
  • and more!
• Free  Pizza in the afternoon from Dominoes

Tournament Details:

Sandbox Volleyball: Friday Night Sessions

Thank you Lee Nessel @ Florida Today for the interview.

Divisions:

• Men’s (AA/A/B)
• Women’s (A/B)
• Co-Ed (A/B)

Pre-Registration is $50.
Day of $80