We’d like to thank Rudy T. for sharing and writing the article below.
The largest tournament in volleyball will be back in 2012 thanks to a 4-1 vote by the Manhattan Beach City Council. The vote went late into the night after a council meeting which discussed and voted on 16 different items, saving the Manhattan Beach 6-Man for last. You may remember the 6-Man posts in August from both myself and current USC beach volley pioneer/queen Geena Urango, but a lot has happened since then.
Once a somewhat popular tournament taking place as part of the International Surf Festival, it has grown into really two separate events. There is still the 6-Man volleyball tournament that takes place with costumes and world class talent south of the Pier, but now the parties that go along with it have become a monster. It’s estimated that more than 65 thousand people came to this year’s 50th Annual Six-Man, but unfortunately thousands of them came for sponsored parties inside rental homes along the strand and not for the volleyball. They blame social media, saying party websites have advertised the event as the blowout of the summer, attracting people from across LA and across the country.
After a spike in arrests and complaints from local residents and businesses, the city discussed the tournament on November 15th with four different options to vote on: Create a council subcommittee for oversight and devise a future plan to move forward, schedule the tournament mid-week (Tuesday/Wednesday), enact a one-year moratorium, or cancel the event altogether.
Thankfully everyone at the meeting is on the same page when it comes to who the point the finger towards regarding the debauchery, hooliganism and violence: The partygoers, NOT the volleyball players. Because of this, the council voted to do two things: Form a subcommittee for solutions in the future and to move 6-Man to midweek.
They hope placing it midweek will keep the partiers away, but keep the teams competing.
None of us as competitors have a problem with having a good time. We all go to Shellback’s and pound a couple cocktails between matches, but we are all in agreement that the sponsored ragers are getting to be too much.
Well now I’m climbing up on my soapbox, It’s time to get the word out. If you’re coming this year to have a good time and to watch or play, we will see you there. If you’re coming to get bombed and not watch the volleyball, go somewhere else. There’s plenty to do in Southern California that week: X Games, U.S. Open of Surfing, go get blackout there. This event means way too much for the volleyball community to have drunken stupidity take it away. It’s difficult enough for volleyball events in the U.S., and this tournament is our sport’s biggest ambassador outside of the Olympics.
To Read The Full Article, click THIS.
Click HERE for Volleywood’s Coverage of the 2011 The 6-Man Tournament!
Click HERE for Volleywood’s Coverage of the 2011 The 6-Man Tournament!
Click HERE for Volleywood’s Coverage of the 2011 The 6-Man Tournament!
(images: sos-photography.net)