On May 16, 2015, the May Fire! beach volleyball tournament returns to Volleyball Beach in Martin City for its third annual run. For those of you not familiar with what May Fire! is you can explain it in one of several words: awesome, incredible, spectacular, inspiring. But my favorite adjective for the experience of the tournament is this one:
pretty.
Anyone who’s experienced one of the May Fire! tournaments out at the Beach the last two years will fully understand why that’s the word I’d use to describe what takes place on the sand. You’re sitting on a beautiful deck under a Cerulean blue sky with an expertly-poured drink in hand watching some spectacular doubles volleyball – without a doubt some of the best you’ll ever see outside of one of the states that actually has a legitimate ocean-facing beach. People from all over the country – and even other countries – have made the journey to the middle of the Midwest to play in the May Fire! tournament. If that’s not pretty I don’t know what is.
Howard and Eric do a tremendous job of getting it teams in and making sure the tournament runs smoothly. The chemists behind the bar keep everyone refreshed with the beverages of their choice – whether that’s a pitcher of water, a bottle of Gatorade, a beer or a mixed concoction that Katie or Blake came up with. And the teams put on a show that you’re not likely to experience anywhere outside of the fourteen sand courts that Volleyball Beach has to offer.
This year, as in years past, there are three divisions: Men’s Open Doubles, Women’s Open Doubles and Mixed Quads. The last two years I’ve played in the quads division; this year Freddy – one of my buddies from volleyball – and I are going to try our hand in the doubles. It’s been a while since I’ve taken the court with just one other player, but we’ve played together before and done OK. Granted we’ve never played against some of the best in the country, but you’ve got to start somewhere.
I know at least half a dozen people who aren’t playing but who are going to make their way out to Martin City (135th & Holmes) on May 16th for the sole purpose of watching pretty people playing pretty volleyball. If this year is anything like last year the number of spectators will well outnumber the players on the 40 doubles teams that took the court.
So come on out to Volleyball Beach at 9:00am on Saturday, May 16th, and enjoy the best beach volleyball Kansas City has to offer!