Volleyball Ventures

I quite simply enjoy playing in all of Volleyball Ventures tourneys. If I could play in all I would, they only play on Saturdays, and usually try to pick days with the best weather and timing taking holidays into consideration. They always have fun co-​ed and fixed doubles formats. Even the 4-​man co-​ed games are a blast. Lots of good exciting and competitive games, they provide you with all the snacks and drinks you need from granola bars, bananas, apples, oranges, bottled water, energy drinks, sodas and juice to a full lunch including sandwiches, pizza, salad and chips. What more could you ask for? Only $ 30 to register for each tournament. A fair price for a full day of competitive vball under the sun.
One more thing, you also get rated when you play in their tournaments. The more you play, the more games you win, the higher division you’ll be placed in.

I do not consider myself a volleyball player. Mainly because I haven’t played organized volleyball in about 16 years and also because I’m short (though I do have oddly long arms for my height). But I was coerced by a friend to play in a Volleyball Ventures tournament this last weekend and I have to admit it was a darn fun way to spend a gorgeous Saturday afternoon on the beach and get a little workout at the same time.
The tournament was pretty well organized — I’m always game for free food and beverages — and the people we met and played with were great. Our division (3) was super fun and supportive (but still had a little cheeky competitive spirit) — it definitely took the edge off of the «oh shit, I haven’t touched a volleyball in years» feeling I had going into it.
Overall, highly recommended if you like volleyball and want to meet new folks or even if you’re not sure if you like volleyball but enjoy being on the beach and meeting new folks. I think they encourage folks to sign up in pairs, however the round robin set up definitely makes it easy for a singleton to get in on the action.

I laugh when I read a Craigslist or MeetUp posting about people who claim that they can’t find anyone to play beach volleyball.
There are two quite simple ways to meet friendly beach volleyball players of your similar skill level:
1) Take a weeknight class (or weekend class) at the pier through the cities of Manhattan & Hermosa Beach. They start around 5−6pm, you get to watch the sunset, meet other enthusiastic players, and then everyone rolls off the sand into a nearby bar together in their flip flops.
2) Register for one of the 6 – 7 Volleyball Ventures doubles «tournaments» in Manhattan Beach. No, these aren’t AVP-​level games. But they have 4 different levels from fun/​recreational up to competitive. They are a cheap way to instantly meet about 12 – 14 other players in your same skill level. Roam around the courts and meet new people. The new tournament directors have taken over and injected more organization and refreshments into what was already a great tournament format. Many of my friends and I remark about how we all met through one of the VBV’s tournaments.
So stop whining that L.A. is a hard place to meet people… or that one day you’ll get out there and learn volleyball. Get your butt into a swimsuit and check it out!