Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sept. 9, 2022) – Beach ParaVolley athletes are returning to Hickory Point Beach in Tavares, Florida, this weekend for the fourth BPV training camp of the year.
Previous USA Volleyball Beach ParaVolley clinics were also held in Tavares in April and August, and in Gulf Shores, Alabama, in May.
This training camp, along with the one in August, is being held in preparation for a USA Volleyball Beach ParaVolley Recognized Development Event (RDE) on Dec. 2-4 at Hickory Point Beach. Athletes were required to participate in one of these two camps to be eligible for the RDE, which will be held in conjunction with an AVP Pro Series event and have a $20,000 purse.
Beach ParaVolley is a three-person variant of beach volleyball for disabled athletes. Last month, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that BPV has applied to participate in the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. If accepted, it would be the second active volleyball discipline in the Paralympics, joining sitting volleyball.
Six athletes with U.S. Sitting National Team or Paralympic experience will be training in Tavares this weekend, including:
- Eric Duda, U.S. Men’s Sitting National Team, 2004 and 2016 Paralympian in sitting volleyball
- Kyle Mason, 2000 Paralympian in standing volleyball
- Dave Newkirk, 1992, 1996 and 2000 Paralympian in standing volleyball
- Chris Seilkop, 1996 and 2000 Paralympian in standing volleyball; 2004 and 2016 Paralympic in sitting
- Patrick Young, U.S. Men’s Sitting National Team
- Akheel Whitehead, 2016 Paralympian in track and field
At the August training camp, participants included Paralympians and U.S. Women’s Sitting National Team athletes Emma Schieck (2020 gold medalist) and Nicky Nieves (2016 gold medalist), and Maddy Ball, also a national team athlete.
September BPV Training Camp Roster
Mia Castro
Gina Laughlin
Laura Light
Nelya Schasfooort
Avery Stephens
Jessie West
Josephy Arkesteyn
Eric Duda
Abram Gornik
John Kriescher
Kurt Larson
Kyle Mason
Frank Matzke
Andrew Nation
Dave Newkirk
Mark Rich
Chris Seilkop
Ahkeel Whitehead
Patrick Young
Coaches
Carlos Galletti
Neal Stanley
Andy Pai
August BPV Training Camp Roster
Berklee Andrews
Maddy Ball
Gina Laughlin
Skye McDermott
Nicky Nieves
Emma Schieck
Jessie West
Kurt Larson
Andrew Nation
Mark Rich