SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter

James Shaw, and the pursuit for the goals on the other side of fear

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features James Shaw. Shaw was a setter at Stanford, where he made an NCAA Championship appearance, before moving onto clubs in Italy and the USA National Team. He is now transitioning to the beach, where he is seeing immediate success. 

In this episode, we discuss:

- Why he decided to leave indoor and play beach volleyball

- The tricky transition of becoming a beach player 

- His childhood, growing up under Don Shaw, the legendary Stanford coach

- How the volleyball community can help save the Stanford program, which was cut by the school

- Shaw's growing list of audacious goals on the beach, including an Olympic run for Paris 2024

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20!

This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off!

This episode is also brought to you by Chasing Gold, a new non-profit founded by Matt Callahan and SANDCAST host Travis Mewhirter, aimed at funding aspiring Olympians to relieve the financial burden of traveling around the world. Read more and donate today at www.chasinggold.org!

SHOOTS!

 

 

Kim Hildreth is thriving, with both feet finally on the ground

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Kim Hildreth, one of the top players in Florida who made the finals of AVP Austin in 2019. A native of Michigan, Hildreth set for four years at Eastern Michigan before finishing out her collegiate career at North Florida. She's stayed in the Sunshine State ever since, rising through the ranks of professionals from the NVL to the AVP. 

On this episode, we discuss:

- Life at age 30, and how becoming "one of the ladies" in Florida isn't so bad after all

- How she turned 2020 into one of the most productive years of her life: getting married, getting into health coaching, practicing even more. "It was a year of growth."

- Her new role as a professional health coach, and how that's impacting her game

- The AVP, and the idea of expanding the main draw, but not prize money (this is a really fun convo, and I encourage you to make it to the end)

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20!

This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off!

This episode is also brought to you by Chasing Gold, a new non-profit founded by Matt Callahan and SANDCAST host Travis Mewhirter, aimed at funding aspiring Olympians to relieve the financial burden of traveling around the world. Read more and donate today at www.chasinggold.org!

SHOOTS!

Mark Paaluhi, the man alas giving beach volleyball the attention he always thought it needed

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Mark Paaluhi, a Hawai'ian native who was raised in Hermosa Beach. As a player, his heyday was in the early '90s, the Golden Era of the sport, where he trained with Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes, among others. But his impact on the sport goes far beyond his abilities as a player. 

Paaluhi is the man behind the net systems and courts at 16th Street, and he is the one directing all of those miniature tournaments in Hermosa Beach you keep hearing about. On this episode, we discuss:

- His background as a player, and a hilarious story about getting bageled, 15-0, by Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes

- His serendipitous journey getting into the corporate world of beach volleyball with USA Volleyball

- How he negotiated with the Hermosa Beach Chief of Police to make 16th Street the safe-haven for professional beach volleyball players

- The advent, and evolution, of the miniature tournaments in Hermosa Beach

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20!

This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off!

SHOOTS!

Beach Volleyball Mailbag: Breaking down the Cancun Bubble, training tips, AVP speculation

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features the hosts, Bourne and Mewhirter, answering a variety of fan questions. In this episode, Bourne and Mewhirter:

- Break down the upcoming Cancun Bubble, a three-week stretch of back to back to back four-stars

- Discuss the balance of playing vs. practicing

- Analyze how to beat taller opponents

- What they look for in a partner search

- What they've heard about the upcoming AVP season And much, much more.

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off! SHOOTS!

Matt Fuerbringer: Respecting the work that's required of greatness

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Matt Fuerbringer, the associate head coach at Long Beach State and one of the all-time good people in beach volleyball. He's a Manhattan Beach Open champion and came within a fingernail of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games with Nick Lucena, a story we discuss on the podcast. 

We also chat about:

- His partnership with Casey Jennings, and the emotional team they were that thrived on adversity and in big moments.

- How he felt like he was playing the best volleyball of his career at age 34 or 35

- The leadup to the 2012 Olympics, playing with Nick Lucena, and finishing fifth in the world and still missing out on qualifying

- The lessons he's trying to instill in his kids, and his awesome definition of what it means to have fun at practice

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20!

This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off!

SHOOTS!

 

Chaim Schalk's American career has finally begun -- from the bottom

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Chaim Schalk, a 2016 Olympian for Canada who has finally, finally, finally begun playing for the United States. 

It's been a long road for Schalk, who had to sit out two years to transfer federations, then one more year for COVID. But beginning with a country quota win over Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb, Schalk's career alas began again, with the four-star qualifier in Doha. 

On this episode with Schalk, we discuss:

- How it felt for Schalk to compete again after such a long time off

- Seeing old friends, and how much the World Tour has changed

- Tri opens up about the country quota loss, and how USA Volleyball made the right decision to make him and Crabb compete

- Whether or not there should be country quotas at all on the FIVB, or if there is enough parity around the world to remove the quotas

- Schalk and Brunner's future as a team, and their ambitions

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20!

This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off!

SHOOTS!

 

Don't be fooled by LSU's Kristen Nuss: She'll find a way to win

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Kristen Nuss, a standout on court one at LSU who has helped the Tigers become a perennial power in college beach volleyball. In four years with the team, she has won 111 matches (and quickly counting) and, in 2020, helped LSU rise to the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in program history. 

She is an absolute delight, both on and off the court. 

On this episode, we discuss:

- LSU's rise from a landlocked, underdog program to one of the best in the United States

- How Nuss wasn't recruited by a single school until her brother, Pete, told coach Russell Brock to take a look at her

- How Nuss and Taryn Kloth turned 2020 from a disappointing COVID-shortened year into one criss-crossing the country, winning tournaments all over

- How this year, the NCAA Championships are a "Super Championship" with all the talent

Much, much more. 

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20!

This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off!

SHOOTS!

 

 

Travis Mewhirter's volatile, adversity-filled trip to and from the Doha bubble

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features the host, Mewhirter, discussing what life is like on the World Tour, and all the hoops players and promoters must jump through to put on a successful tournament. 

In this episode, we discuss:

- A crazy two weeks prior to leaving for Doha, which included an injury, delayed visas, COVID-testing issues -- the whole gamut

- What it's like to play a tournament in a "bubble"

- How it was for Mewhirter to compete in his first tournament since the Cook Islands in January of 2020

- The next steps for both Bourne and Mewhirter, in an uncertain 2021 season ahead

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20!

This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off!

SHOOTS!

 

Tri Bourne reflects on his Doha country quota loss and how he plans to bounce back

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Savvy Simo and Tri. Travis is on the road playing in the 1 star FIVB in Doha, Qatar, so Savvy interviews Bourne to bring the fans up-to-date on his teams status and his personal goals.

Bourne recently played in a USA Country quota, but lost to Chaim Schalk and Theo Brunner. In this video he is reflecting on that loss and how he plans to move forward after this rough set back in 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification.

Mike Campbell: From running off a dad bod to coaching Olympians

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Mike Campbell. 

Campbell is the head coach of the Long Beach State beach volleyball team, and has been the coach for the AVP teams of Jeremy Casebeer and Chaim Schalk, Chaim Schalk and Chase Budinger, and, now, Casey Patterson and Chase Budinger. He has a brilliant mind for the game, having grown up playing it by the Santa Monica Pier, and this was such a fun podcast. 

We talk about:

- How Campbell accidentally began coaching Jeremy Casebeer and Chaim Schalk, and their win, two months later, in Seattle, a first for all three of them

- The difference between coaching professionals and college players, and the tweaks a coach must make to his system to manage it

- Why he began coaching professional beach volleyball players in the first place, given his extensive coaching duties already

- The boom of young talent in the United States, and the promise it's showing for years to come

This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20!

This episode is also brought to you by CROSSNET, a fun new beach volleyball game, where beach volleyball meets four-square. It's an absolute blast, and is actually a great training tool as well. Use our discount code, SANDCAST, for 20 percent off!

SHOOTS!