It takes a lot to keep avid snow skier Ron Von Hagen away from the white-covered slopes this time of year. The Sun Valley, Idaho, resident missed only five days during last year’s ski season but when he and girlfriend Connie McMillan load their luggage and three dogs next week for a 15-hour drive to Hermosa Beach, the trip must be of the utmost importance.
“It’s a trip I feel I have to make,” said Von Hagen, who was one of the first stars when competitive beach volleyball was in its infancy on the 1960s. “I’m really looking forward to seeing many old friends.”
Von Hagen, who will turn 73 on Nov. 26, is returning to the area of his glory days to attend the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame Kick-Off Party, which will be held at the Hermosa Beach Community Center on Friday, Nov. 18.
Sponsored by the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA), the Hermosa Beach Historical Society and the Hermosa Arts Foundation, the event will feature the largest group of beach volleyball greats to assemble at one time while serving as a fundraiser for the sport’s first permanent Hall of Fame display officially titled the CBVA/Hermosa Beach Historical Society Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame.
Baseball has its Cooperstown. Football has Canton, Ohio. The mention of each town brings to mind three words – Hall of Fame. Organizers hope one day Hermosa Beach will reach the same benchmark.
[scrollGallery id=253]While the CBVA has had a Hall of Fame for 20 years, because of lack of funding there has been no display honoring the greats of the game. But that changed when Hermosa Beach Historical Society President Rick Koenig contacted CBVA President Chris Brown requesting beach volleyball artifacts for the museum which depicts the city’s beach lifestyle.
“They had plenty of surfing memorabilia and were looking for more beach volleyball-related items,” Brown said. “Then a light bulb went on in my head because we were looking for a physical location for the Hall of Fame. We discussed the idea and it worked out. The added benefit is that it will draw people to the Historical Museum which is a great place to visit.”
The majority of funds raised for the Hall of Fame will be utilized for display purposes including showcases, cabinets and lighting.
“We’re very excited about the kick-off party and having the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame a part of the Historical Society,” said John W. Miller, a member of the Historical Society Board of Directors who is serving as Chairman for the event. “We’ve held events such as the History of Skateboarding and a punk rock art show and they always turn into great reunions for so many people.
“We’ve been working seamlessly with the CBVA on this project. Medals will be awarded to Hall of Fame members who will assemble on stage making for a classic photo. Hall of Famers in attendance will also sign a volleyball that will be auctioned off at the event.”
The evening will begin with a Meet & Greet from 6 to 7:45 p.m. in the Community Center. Festivities continue in the theater where a slide show, medal presentations, induction of the Class of 2011, a special Honoree Ceremony and the showing of a Beach Volleyball Highlight video will take place. In true beach volleyball fashion, a post-party will wrap up the day’s celebration.
“This will be a one-of-a-kind event,” said Kevin Cleary, a 2010 inductee who also serves on the Hall of Fame Committee. “To have so many legends of the sport in one room at the same time will be fantastic.”
Cleary was instrumental in organizing the event and contacting former players. He has confirmation of attendance from more than 40 of the 64 members already in the Hall of Fame. There will be four new members this year.
“Creating an actual Hall of Fame is long overdue and having it in the South Bay is a no-brainer,” Brown said. “For the community, it will be a great way to celebrate the beach lifestyle which volleyball is so much a part of. When racing fans think of NASCAR, they think of North Carolina. When people think of beach volleyball, they think of Southern California. I believe it will help the sport become more mainstream. This is a legitimate sport with a lot of history.”
Brown, 42, has been playing beach volleyball since the age of five and has the excitement of a star-struck youngster when talking about the event. He said the evening will have a similar look and feel as when the NBA announced its top 50 players and 47 gathered together in Cleveland, Ohio, prior to the 1997 All Star Game.
“When I was young, people always talked about Ron Von Hagen but I never had the chance to see him play,” Brown said. “Having the chance to meet him and others I have only heard about will be very special for me.”
The Sultan of Swing
Along with Gene Selznick, Ron Lang and Miki McFadden, Von Hagen will be one of four special honorees Brown refers to as “the Mount Rushmore of Beach Volleyball.”
Nicknamed the Babe Ruth of Beach Volleyball – a moniker he accepts graciously but doesn’t necessarily agree with — Von Hagen set records and the standards for future generations of players. A four-sport star at Harvard Military School in Los Angeles, Von Hagen didn’t begin playing volleyball until his friend Al Scates (who would become the greatest volleyball coach in college history at his alma mater) introduced him to the game when he was 21 years old and a senior at UCLA.
“I didn’t play until after college and always thought Selznick, Mike Bright and Mike O’Hara were the best players,” Von Hagen said. “Volleyball was just a club sport at UCLA but I really fell in love with the beach game.”
Von Hagen’s beach volleyball career began in 1961 and, after his first-place finish in 1964 with partner Rand Carter, he would go on to win 62 Open beach tournaments throughout the next decade. From 1966-1972, Von Hagen played in 54 tournaments never finishing lower than third place. He had a stretch of 100 Open tournaments in which he won 60 times, was second 23 times and took third seven times.
The partnership between Von Hagen and Lang turned into one of the most successful in the history of beach volleyball. The team won 22 tournaments, 15 of which occurred from 1966-1968.
Von Hagen’s last Open-level championship came in 1977, when he teamed with Hall of Famer Chris Marlowe (Class of 1993) at the Rosecrans Beach Tournament, marking the first title won by a player aged 38 or older.
Known for his chiseled physique, Von Hagen was one of the first beach volleyball players to incorporate weight training into his work-out regimen upon the suggestion of longtime friend and basketball coaching legend John Wooden.
“I learned a lot of valuable lessons from Coach Wooden,” Von Hagen said. “We were friends for many years and, while thinking of players in the (Beach Volleyball) Hall of Fame, he always considered Keith Erickson (Class of 1993) as one of the two greatest athletes he ever coached.”
Von Hagen said he is looking forward to seeing fellow players from his era and discussing how the game has changed from a time when there was no prize money and a tournament championship may earn the winning team a pitcher of beer and possibly a T-shirt.
“I think I earned around $625 during my career,” Von Hagen said. “The game was different back then. There was no prize money and as the indoor game became organized, there was a separation of athletes who played indoors and on the beach. It’s unbelievable we have this Hall of Fame now. It’s very special. We played in tournaments from Santa Cruz to San Diego, but Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach were always ones the players really wanted to win. Playing in the naturally deep sand and battling the wind and sun is what true beach volleyball is all about. It was a great time to play beach volleyball and much more demanding than it is today with the smaller courts and rally scoring. Playing in the ‘60s, I never considered ourselves pioneers of the sport. But 50 years later, I guess we were.”
Lang, who will be honored as well as introduce and speak about the career of Selznick, was the first player to be inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in both indoor and beach divisions.
After beginning his career in 1955, Lang’s intensity, tactical maneuvers and physical skill and stamina set him apart from most players. Lang won more than 50 Open championships between 1957 and 1970 including 20 with Selznick and 28 with Von Hagen, with whom he did not lose a game during a span of 1 1/2 years.
Lang admits that he has been far removed from the game for many years, but is anxiously awaiting the festivities next week.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a volleyball in my hand,” Lang said. “It will be real nice to have the chance to see a lot of people and talk about tournaments and matches. It’ll be fun for me. Gene and I had a good run. Ron and I spent 1 1/2-2 years playing together every day and lost very few times. We played a lot more than the players do today.”
Lang believes the new facility can provide a boost for the sport.
“Holyoke (the home of the Volleyball Hall of Fame in Massachusetts) is not much of a tourist attraction,” Lang said. “With the right presentation, the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in Hermosa Beach should do very well. The coast from Hermosa Beach to Santa Monica is beach volleyball.”
Lang looks forward to talking about Selznick, considered by many as the most talented volleyball player in the history of the sport. Along with playing outstanding offense and defense, Selznick was an innovator, entertainer, coach and outspoken individual who became one of the great personalities the game has every seen.
In 1948, a young Selznick came to Hermosa Beach from Los Angeles to play beach volleyball but it wasn’t long before his skills outshone the local talent and he moved his competition to the sands of Santa Monica where he eventually introduced Wilt Chamberlain (Class of 2008) to the sport of beach volleyball, taking him on a barnstorming tour in the 1970s.
Selznick won 18 of 20 tournaments with Bernie Holtzman, a member of the inaugural Hall of Fame in 1992 that included Von Hagen, Selznick, O’Hara, Kathy Gregory, Ed Montan, Gen Popko, George Stepanof and Mira Costa High School boys volleyball coach Mike Cook.
After his partnership with Holtzman, Selznick teamed with Lang in 1957.
Also being honored will be Miki McFadden, one of the first female stars on the sand. The former Olympian won 15 tournament titles, 14 with Gregory.
McFadden continues to coach at the college level.
Class of 2011
Each year, a memo is sent to CBVA members requesting nominations for the Hall of Fame where a panel of seven people considers the criteria for each nominee that includes recognition among the volleyball community, significant time playing, longevity and success. Players must have a five-year waiting period from their peak playing days.
San Diego native George Stepanof, 75, is a Charter Member of the Hall of Fame who Brown calls the “unofficial historian” of the election committee. Arguably, there is no better person to evaluate a potential candidate for the Hall of Fame.
Stepanof has played beach volleyball since he was nine years old and has served on the beach volleyball rules committee, as well as directed tournaments in the San Diego area, since the 1960s.
“I think having a permanent Hall of Fame display is great after having it on paper all these years,” Stepanof said. “It’s the perfect time of year to have it and we hope to make the induction ceremony a yearly event.”
Stepanof runs the Polar Classic in Mission Beach in December and has overseen the largest beach volleyball tournament in the world – the Estero Beach Volleyball Tournament in Mexico.
“One year in Ensenada, we had 839 teams playing on 139 courts in one weekend,” Stepanof recalled. “We went from town to town just to arrange hotel accommodations.”
Stepanof believes many in attendance at the Hall of Fame Kick-Off Party will enjoy viewing an artifact he will be bringing with him.
“I have guardianship of the perpetual trophy from the San Diego Open tournament which has been played since 1949,” Stepanof exclaimed. “I believe it to be the oldest documented evidence of beach volleyball tournaments in California.”
The four new inductees this year will include Manhattan Beach native Holly McPeak, players John Hanley and Brian Lewis and author Arthur “Artie” Couvillion.
After graduating from Mira Costa High School, McPeak was named National Freshman of the Year at UC Berkeley before transferring to UCLA where she led the Bruins to a national championship in 1990.
On the sand, McPeak won 72 career beach volleyball titles with seven different partners and was the first female player to earn more than $1 million in the sport. A four-time MVP on domestic tours, McPeak won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics with partner Elaine Youngs.
Since retiring from beach volleyball, McPeak has worked as a color commentator for Fox Sports.
Couvillion, a long-time Hermosa Beach resident, is being honored for his contributions to the sport through publishing. His three-volume book series “Sands of Time: The History of Beach Volleyball” contains a plethora of information on beach volleyball.
He has also published “The Manhattan Beach Open” and the “Winners” series highlighting the careers of various beach volleyball players.
Known for his powerful jump serve, Lewis became the 11th man to reach the $1 million mark in career winnings in 2004. He won eight domestic beach championships with his first career victory coming in 1992 when he teamed with indoor Olympian Pat Powers to win a Grand Slam event in Clearwater, FL.
Lewis’ father produced the first film made on the sport of beach volleyball, “Beach Volleyball Coming of Age.”
Hanley won 16 tournament titles in his 17 year career that began in 1979, most coming with partner Jon Stevenson (Class of 1996). In 1993, Hanley earned the AVP Ron Von Hagen Award as the Most Underrated Player.
Hanley will join his wife Linda Robertson Hanley (2004) and sister Kathy Hanley (1997) as a member of the Hall of Fame.
To see the complete list of Hall of Fame members, visit www.cbva.com. With only 500 seats available in the Theatre, Cleary suggests buying tickets early. Prices are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 18. 150 pre-sale tickets are available at Spyder Surf and Boccatto’s Grocery in Hermosa Beach and 150 are available online. Contact info@cbva.com for ticket info.
