The Huntington Beach Pro-Am was an absolutely incredible event. It allowed pro's and amateurs to play against one another right next to the pier in Huntington Beach. The Pro-Am was founded in 2005 by Ryan Mariano and has since been taken over by his long time partner, Ed Ratledge. Originally the Pro-Am's purpose was to have portential sponsors for pro beach players come out, partner up with them for the day, and get to know them/play with them. As it grew to over 100 teams, many competitive amateurs would come out to get a taste of what it was like to play against the top competition in the sport.
In 2012, I got the opportunity to play in the event. I was so excited! Casey Patterson, Jake Gibb, Sean Rosenthal, Ryan Daugherty, Ed Ratledge, Rich Lambourne, Billy Allen, Ty Ramblie... The list goes on and on. I don't know if my draw was really lucky, because the reason you come to these events is to play against the best, or really rough, but I got to play agianst, Sean Rosenthal, Rich Lambourne, Casey Patterson, and Jake Gibb. For a guy from Arizona, that's pretty much dream scenario! The best of the best of the best were bouncing balls past my block, turning off the lights with their block, and showing me exactly why I was not ready to compete at that level.
I had a ton of fun! I played with Marcin Jagoda and he and I didn't do terribly. A bunch of my family and friends came out for the event and hung out. Not much better place to be than on a volleyball court in Huntington Beach with all the best players there. I'm pretty sure they had just as much fun watching and interacting with the players as I had playing against them. It was a pretty incredible weekend!
Below is part of our match against Jake Gibb and Rich Lambourne along with a picture of me playing against Casey, and a picture of my cheering section.
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