From Olympic medalists to up-and-coming players, standouts in the sport of beach volleyball will be recognized when the California Beach Volleyball (CBVA) Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is held Friday at 7 p.m. at the Hermosa Theatre.
The Class of 2016 includes Dain Blanton, Elaine Youngs, Fred Zuelich and John Featherstone. Blanton won the gold medal with partner Eric Fonoimoana in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and four years later, Youngs won Olympic bronze with partner Holly McPeak.
Zuelich, a South Bay real estate consultant who has been in the profession for more than 35 years, won six tournaments titles including the Manhattan Beach Open in 1973 with Bob Jackson. He won the Manhattan Beach 6-man tournament four times, ran a volleyball school for 12 years and was instrumental in expanding the sport of beach volleyball in Australia in 1978.
A native of Manhattan Beach, Featherstone made his name as one of the top junior college football coaches in the nation holding the position of head coach at El Camino College for 31 years, but his love of beach volleyball never wavered. He was an official on the AVP tour and has run a beach volleyball camp for 22 years.
Also recognized will be the legendary team of Mike Dodd and Tim Hovland, the lone inductees to the Hall of Fame in 2000. The duo played in 177 domestic tournaments together winning 53 titles including the Manhattan Beach Open five times.
Olympians April Ross and Sean Rosenthal will be on hand to present awards to the CBVA Youth Cal Cup winners that include many players from the South Bay.
Winners of this year’s CBVA Cal Cup will also be honored including Men’s and Women’s champions Jorge Martinez and Dalida Vernier (AAA), Griffin Conway and Jenn Henderson (AA), Seth Tuton and Morgan Kendrick (A) and Kristofer Lena and Kaili Kimura (B).
Also honored will be Youth Cal Cup Champions. Capturing boys titles were the teams of Will Bantle (Pacific Palisades)/Rob Mullahey (Manhattan Beach) in the 18U division, Jevan Coronado (West Covina)/Luke Grafton (Hermosa Beach) in the 16U, Miles Partain (Pacific Palisades)/Luke Turner (Hermosa Beach) in the 14U and Manhattan Beach duo of Mick Bakos/Ryan Sprague in the 12U.
Girls winning Youth Cal Cup titles were Chanti Holroyd (Mountain View)/Madilyn Yeomans (San Diego) in the 18U, Kyla Doig (Redondo Beach)/Jaden Whitmarsh (Rancho Santa Fe) in the 16U, Makenna Gaeta (Santa Monica)/Kate Reilly (Manhattan Beach) in the 14U and Kelly Belardi (Manhattan Beach)/Savannah Standage (Redondo Beach) in the 12U
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit cbva.com
