Beach Bash Recap
Updated: May 31, 2021
What a wild weekend. Colorado beach volleyball is growing at an exponential rate. The community that surrounds the sport out here is top class. I had the privilege of playing Beach Bash Doubles with the local legend Skylar Del Sol. We scrapped and battled all the way to becoming champions.
It was very comical leading up to the tournament how many people reached out to me to let me know "It was my tournament to lose" or "don't be the guy that doesn't win Beach Bash with Skylar." Honestly I was glad people put that kind of pressure on me. I have spent the last 18 months grinding on my mindset and becoming the kind of person that loves being tested.
I do want to take a moment and reflect what made this moment possible. Most people saw this pandemic as a huge set back in all their goals and ambitions. I saw this pandemic as an opportunity to double down on myself and slowly, day by day, grind and pass up my competition. I stopped playing video games, stopped caring about TV shows, stopped worrying about what everyone else is doing, started getting up at 4am everyday, and began playing the inner game against myself. This one day of success is a result of the past months of effort, not something magical that happened out of the blue.
Celebrating this victory is over and I want more. My blocking was far from elite, but is completely fixable and within my control. I have New Orleans next weekend with my long time partner Nate Yang. It is an 80-team tournament with some of the best teams in the country coming out to play. I am excited to put to work all my efforts and battle with Nate. A blog will follow! Lastly, as usual I would like to give thanks and gratitude to were they are due because I didn't do all this work by myself. I have a team of people who I consider close to me who has amplified my ability to grow. The short list consist of training partners Nate Adams, Nate Yang, Jordan Gladstone, Karsten Guth, and Ian Carlson. Coach Geoff Carlston helped me improved the inner voice which loves to muddy up the waters! My wife Lacy has supported and encouraged me every step of the way.
Check out the game film on my YouTube Channel
Check out my Vlog about Beach Bash experience or Gro Show Podcast.