City says party is over for Six-Man Volleyball Tournament
The 2009 Charlie Saikley Six-Man Volleyball Tournament. Photo by Brent Broza
The party will be over for the Charlie Saikley Six-Man Volleyball Tournament if the city has its way this summer.
The city will implement a slew of measures in an effort to make it nearly impossible for attendees at this year’s tournament to set up camp, blast music and booze all day.
“We need to say the party is over when it comes to alcohol on our beaches,” Mayor Mitch Ward said at a Tuesday City Council meeting.
City officials pointed to alcohol as the root of the ballooning and often unruly crowds that have in recent years come to characterize the city’s treasured event.
“I do think these changes are significant enough that people will come down and they might even say, ‘It’s not the big party it once was and we may just leave altogether and drink some place else,’” said Manhattan Beach Police Chief Rod Uyeda.
Council members agreed that changes will include fencing off the tournament with multiple entry/exit points, and increasing enforcement from 20 to 40 MBPD officers, six to 35 Community Service Officers and 35 to 60 private security staff. Uyeda will notify council in upcoming months whether he feels additional support from outside enforcement agencies, such as the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, will be needed.
To offset the extra $93,306 needed to cover enhanced enforcement, team entry fees will increase from $600 to $1,100 for regular open teams, $1,000 to $2,500 for sponsored open teams and $400 to $500 for masters teams. Fees will secure 12 team spots with $100 extra per additional player.
The city will also begin an aggressive outreach program to notify the public — including promoters who market the event on party websites — that the alcohol ban, unlike in years past, will be strictly enforced.
“I would explain how critical it is to put a big notice that says, ‘The party is over,’” Councilwoman Portia Cohen said. “Alcohol will not be tolerated.”
Teams may be unsponsored or locally sponsored, but sponsorships will be no longer be allowed to come from national companies, such as Red Bull.
Alcoholic beverages and Jell-O products will be prohibited. However players will be allowed to bring sealed water or sports drink containers. Large coolers will not be permitted.
Team members will be required to wear wristbands, and amplified music and bullhorns will be allowed only during the Sunday portion of the event. Tents will be limited to one per team with no closed sides or banners. In lieu of private tent space and coolers, the city will provide a “players only” tent with water.
California Beach Volleyball Association president Chris Brown called many of the changes “Draconian.”
“You’re really threatening to mess with the magic of the tournament, which is what makes it worth saving” Brown said. “You could end up with something that’s so far removed from what the original tournament was that it is not even worth saving.”
Council members did not support recommendations to limit the tournament to players 18 and over, push back the tournament date, reduce the number of teams, move the masters tournament to the north side of the pier or prohibit the wild costumes that started popping up a few years ago.
“It would be sad to take away the costumes from the event,” said Olympic volleyball player Bob Samuels, who has played in the tournament for more than 20 years. “…Moving the masters to the north side of the pier would certainly take away from the elder statesmen monitoring and keeping some of the younger folks in check.”
The Six-Man was first held in 1957 as part of the International Surf Festival, a competition in which lifeguards and community members compete in a variety of water and beach sports. The volleyball tournament was added to keep spectators entertained during the often time-consuming aquatic events. In 1964, Manhattan Beach Recreation Supervisor Charlie Saikley took over the organization of the tournament. When he died in 2005 the tournament was named after him.
Fewer than 1,000 people attended the first year’s event, according to Saikley’s son, Charles Saikley Jr. For the past decade, the tournament’s growth has reached viral proportions, jumping from 2,000 attendees in 1998 to 12,000 attendees in 2002 to 20,000 in 2004, according to the city. Last year, 60,000 attendees crowded the beach during the Saturday portion of the event and spilled into downtown and residential areas. Residents complained of rowdy behavior — including fighting, littering, urinating, defecating and vomiting on public and private properties.
Mayor Pro Tem Richard Montgomery said the volleyball players are not the problem.
“It’s not the guys [playing volleyball] and families who don’t follow the rules,” he said. “It’s the other idiots who show up and give the tournament a bad name.”
At a City Council meeting last month, Chief Uyeda warned that the intoxicated crowd could easily riot, overwhelm police and cost the city thousands in damages.
“When you ring that bell, you can’t un-ring it,” Montgomery said Tuesday. “Our job here is health and safety.”
Volleyball community supporters said that the increased fees would make it difficult for local players to enter.
“The team fees are getting pretty expensive,” said Brent Griebenow, who worked with Saikley organizing the tournament in the ‘90s. “I think teams will pay whatever it takes probably to keep this thing alive, although I don’t think there are a lot of teams who would pay $100 per person. I think that’s an aggressive number for someone to want to be a part of the event.”
“This event cannot lose money for the city,” Councilmember Wayne Powell said. “We have a budget shortfall.”
The city may consider requesting permission from the California Coastal Commission to charge a spectator fee during future tournaments, in order to avoid penalizing players.
Former AVP director Dave Williams said the AVP organization would help the city get the word out about ending the party.
“The Six-Man event is a homecoming for the South Bay, for the volleyball community and Manhattan Beach,” Williams said.
“Whatever you need from the AVP to support this event, you will have it,” he added.
Uyeda said that this year may be too early too tell how effective the new measures will be.
“Although, I anticipate a large crowd this year, I think the crowds that do come might say, ‘Hey, the event has changed a lot. It’s not as fun as it was in years past. Next year we’re not going to go.’”
The City Council also approved several other changes, including the addition of bike parking areas, an increase in portable restrooms, the widening of an emergency aisle, the requirement that each team manager attend a pre-event meeting to discuss the new rules and the placement of food vendors near the courts to alleviate overflow into downtown.
The City expects to gain $202,000 in revenue from team entry fees, which will offset the tournament’s $203,000 cost.
“We’re committed to having this event,” Councilmember Nick Tell said. “I think it’ a great event and the last thing we want to do is kill it. These will be incremental changes made in the right direction.” ER