USA Volleyball kicks off Cedar Rapids beach debut

HIAWATHA - With the sun beating down on the hot sand, creating temperatures surpassing 80 degrees, dozens of high school athletes were out playing volleyball Wednesday afternoon. The scene was common to that of any number of beaches on the Pacific or Gulf Coasts on any given day.

But there was just one difference - there was no ocean to be found.

The Oasis Sandbar courts in Hiawatha are hosting the USA Volleyball Beach High Performance Central Zone Championships this week, the first time any qualifier has been held in the state of Iowa - or even off a beach. And after two days of instructional camps from Team USA coaches, pool play finally began on Wednesday, offering teams the opportunity to qualify for the national tournament.

'It's different. I'm not used to (playing here),” Lolo Weideman, a player from Center Point, said. 'I didn't even know it was here. It's nice though. It was like a 20 minute drive.”

The Central Zone makes up teams from eight different states all over the Midwest, giving them a chance to earn an automatic bid for the HP National Championships in Hermosa Beach, Calif., later in July.

Florida, Texas and California, more traditional beach volleyball locations, host the other three regional sites. Melissa Duffield, the co-owner of Oasis Sandbar, said they proposed the idea to host the fourth regional to USA Volleyball back before the facility was even finished, and the organization was all for it.

'It is weird, it definitely is weird,” Duffield said. 'But at the same time, how (does USA Volleyball) reach the demographic that's here in the Midwest when we don't have beaches? A facility like this is very cost efficient for them to do it. They don't have set up and take down costs, and at the same time they can reach more kids.”

In order to qualify for the Central Zone championships, athletes have two options. They can either be selected at a tryout for the high performance program, or they can be nominated through their region. Now teams in the Midwest have a much closer option, something that will greatly benefit athletes.

Eli Margetts - who hails from Indianapolis - said he loved getting to play in a new region for once.

'As a defender, I try to get as many different people as possible in different matches,” Margetts said. 'Certain people have hard swings, good shots, so it's good to mix and match all that. Like the kids we just played, I've never seen either of them, but they're both great players. They help me improve my game.”

The difference from Midwest players to coastal players, both Weideman and her partner Tayah Mahi, of Cedar Falls, said, is huge. Players on the coast get to play nearly all year long, and have been for a long time.

Getting to play in the Midwest, they said, is a nice change.

'You go to California, and they're like really casual and they play like they're from the beach,” Mahi said. 'It's really hard to adapt to their play. They've been playing since they were little, so it's just natural for them.”

Mahi and Weideman have been beach partners for about five years, after picking up the sport when their club, CIA, added a beach option. They make up two of 20 individuals from the state that are competing this week at the Central Zones.

Both Mahi and Weideman, who are entering their senior year of high school this fall, opted to play indoor volleyball collegiately instead of beach, committing to Northern Iowa and South Dakota, respectfully.

However playing beach in the offseason, they said, only improves their games.

'Beach just really helps with brain development for the game,” Mahi said. 'You get really mentally strong, because it's just you two out in the hot sun. When you're indoors and there's air conditioning and there's six of you, it becomes a lot easier mentally.”

And now that they have the Oasis facility, which will be opening up an indoor facility later this year, too, Weideman said she thinks it can really help grow the game in Iowa.

'I just think that more girls would come who think they don't like beach, even if they don't start young or become really good at it, or maybe they go on to play beach in college,” Weideman said. 'It'd just be nice to have more stuff like this here, because we don't have a lot of it.”

Pool play will continue Thursday, with tournament play beginning on Friday.

And while this zone isn't as large as some of the others - California often boasts more than 200 athletes - tournament coordinator Megan Burgdorf said she really likes where they are at for the first year.

'I'm pleasantly surprised,” Burgdorf said. 'I think the athletes here are of a really high caliber. I think they have a lot of potential. I'm really positive of the outlook to continue to train them and advance in elite skills. I think we have an awesome foundation to start on.”

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