AVP America: Wilmington, NC
October 17, 2020: Wilmington, NC
“This facility was incredible! All of the players and parents were very welcoming. We were able to spend the day with some of the Sinjin Beach Volleyball Club players. I loved seeing how much they enjoyed the sport and striving to learn more everyday.”
- Taryn Kloth
“This tournament was one of the most fun tournaments for me. We played a lot of juniors in this tournament which allowed Taryn and I to share some of our beach volleyball knowledge with them. Right before our finals match we had like an impromptu clinic with a lot of the girls where we were able to give them some tips and just answer some of their questions. It was very humbling to be able to do that because I was once in their shoes and would have absolutely loved to be able to do something like that. Lastly, the people and the venue were awesome. Would definitely love to play at Capt’n Bills again!”
- Kristen Nuss
Wilmington, Capt’n Bills, Hops Supply Co & The Copper Penny… the list could go on and on. While this tournament was not one of our toughest, it was definitely our most adventurist.
Let’s start this recap off by flashing back to the morning of the tournament. It is 5:18am and unfortunately there are no Ubers or Lyfts in the area. Luckily, Capt’n Bills is only a 10 minute walk from our hotel. So Taryn and I suit up, it’s a brisk 50 degrees outside, and start walking in what we hope is the right direction (neither of us should be trusted when it comes to giving directions). *The sun is not scheduled to rise until 7:13am* It is pitch black outside as we are walking down the sidewalk. Only the fortunate 6 cars that we saw while walking were able to see two girls in a city they had never been before strolling down the street at 5:18am (what a sight that had to be).
Play supposedly starts at 7 and here we are at 5:45 strolling up to where we expect to find many other people and at least lights but we we walk up to is Capt’n Bills in darkness and a person on a 4 wheeler tilling the sand. Taryn and I look at each other, we’ve done it again... our always in a rush, student-athlete time crunch schedule has made us insanely too early for this tournament.
The tournament featured a heavy amount of up and coming junior beach volleyball players and a couple current collegiate athletes. With that being said, Taryn and I had a lot of eyes on us that day (we were the outsiders). It was the type of environment that whenever another team scored a point against us the crowd erupted into loud, elated cheers.
This tournament provided us a great opportunity to share our knowledge of the game with our opponents. Almost every game featured a quick Q&A with the youngsters we had just played. The best part of the tournament came in between our semis and finals match. While we were waiting to see our opponent for the finals, we somehow ended up playing a large game of queen of the court with about 15 junior players from Sinjin Beach Volleyball Club. We were able to give them a couple tips here and there throughout the pickup games. It was genuinely a fun time for Taryn and I to be able to interact with the kids because we were once in their shoes.
Our final match ended around 10pm and just like we had started the day, we packed our things up and started our stroll in the darkness back to our hotel while we reminisced about the events of the day. We did not think that was how our day was going to go. The only difference between the morning and evening stroll was the amount of cars on the road. More people were again able to see two girls, who looked out of place, walking along the sidewalk.
Then comes the real adventure… we woke up Sunday morning ready to explore. Like I had said before, neither one of us had been to Wilmington. We reached out to friends, family, and Uber drivers to see where the best places to visit or eat were (food is obviously very important to us, especially me… shout out to my infamous “Food Chronicles”). They led us to Wrightsville Beach and boy are we glad they did. We hop out the Uber and stumble upon a shop on the corner where we see a banged up tandem bike that has our name on it. It took a little convincing from Taryn but I knew we could not pass this opportunity up. Taryn had to take the front seat due to her 6’4 stature. I, on the other hand, fit perfectly in the back seat. And off we went, we rode all day. Who needs Ubers or Lyfts when you have a tandem bike. We rode it so much that we broke it… yes, the chain came off the bike as we were riding down a very busy bridge. Have no fear, I came to the rescue. My dad would be so proud of me. Taryn’s on the other hand, not so much. Taryn happily volunteered to be the videographer during the chain situation; whereas, I was getting my hands very dirty trying to reattach the chain. It was fixed and we were off again.
We explored every crevice of Wilmington, more specifically Wrightsville Beach and enjoyed and documented all the wonderful food along the way. This trip was definitely one of the most fun ones we have had so far. We were able to do two things that both of us really enjoy… play beach volleyball and explore a place we had never been before.
By: Kristen Nuss