Mark Burik: Adventuring and the power of ripple effects

Mark Burik: Adventuring and the power of ripple effects

Mark Burik tried it. You will notice that to be a theme of his life: The man just tries everything. In this case, a young Burik was trying his best, as a freshman at the University of Delaware, to sell his father on a month-long semester in New Zealand. His father balked.

Fourteen-thousand bucks? What was Mark going to learn in New Zealand that could possibly be worth $14,000?

Well, Mark replied, we’re going to go zorbing.

If you’re wondering what in the world zorbing is, allow Burik a moment to explain.

“It’s when you get put in a clear bubble and they send you rolling down a hill,” he said on SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter.

So, no, Mr. Burik was not going to hand his son a $14,000 check to go zorbing in New Zealand. But he did have faith that Mark would find his way to New Zealand at some point, and he’d get to go zorbing or bungee jumping or hopping off of bridges or whatever else he would do – and studying was likely not one of them – on his own dime.

“Once I got the volleyball bug,” Burik said, “I knew I was going to take it as far as I can.”

He means far in every possible sense of the word. Physically, he has gone quite far, to the point that when his longtime girlfriend, Janell Haney, suggests what could be a fun overseas trip for the two, Burik will reply, “Oh yeah, that place is fun.” And then she’ll get frustrated, because she wants to go somewhere new, but finding a new place in the world for Burik to travel is quite a difficult endeavor these days.

He’s gone bungee jumping in New Zealand. Played on the national tours in Austria, France, Norway and Sweden. He’s run volley camps in Germany, Spain, Switzerland. He’s flown in helicopters in Rio, been discouraged at the state of an FIVB one-star in Cambodia.

“I’ve just had trouble saying no to tournaments and saying no to an adventure or trip,” Burik said. “It’s too much fun. There’s too much world to go and see to say ‘No.’ And if volleyball is either your ticket or your excuse, why not?

“I think I love the fact that even if I’m going somewhere to travel, I’ll hunt down my local volleyball contacts, because if you’ve got a sport like volleyball, and you’re pretty good at it, you have built-in friends wherever you go. You don’t even have to do all the tourism stuff and wonder where you have to go because your built-in friends will bring you.”

Burik now is one of those volleyball contacts for players all around the world who are looking for a place to play or train or build a community at any time of the year. Five years ago, Burik founded VolleyCamp Hermosa, a now-booming and wildly popular adult camp of sorts for players of all skills and ages.

He founded it, of course, on some of the most ridiculous premises. He wanted it to be a volley hostel, where he’d find all of the broke and hungry 20-somethings in the sport, give them a bunk to crash in, a court to play on, and a bunch of guys to play with, and let it run wild. It worked for a bit. Burik rented three apartments, squeezing in four bunk-beds in the master bedroom of one.

“It was so much fun and so crazy,” Burik said. “I was cleaning toilets at 3 a.m. getting ready for the next turnover.”

To the surprise of perhaps only Burik, he was evicted from one of his houses – “I did it all legally,” he is adamant to assure you – and has since sent the VolleyCampers to local hotels, where he does not have to clean toilets at three in the morning. Though the hostel vision for VolleyCamp has since changed, the impact of it has only multiplied. Rare is the day you will not see Burik and his coaching staff on second street in Hermosa, teaching from sun-up to sundown, VolleyCampers rotating in and out of the courts the entire day, all year long.

“It’s gotten to a point where it runs itself,” Burik said. This has allowed him to expand into other projects, all in the name of growing the sport. He’s building a YouTube channel, Betteratbeach, with an eponymous website, betteratbeach.com. He’s authoring webinars. Conducting film studies with players from all over the planet via FaceTime and screenshare.

“If you get one, solid piece of advice from one great coach, that’s going to affect the rest of your career,” Burik said. “People think one piece of advice is just one piece of advice but it’s not. It’s thousands of points.”

But it’s not just about improving as a player. It’s about building up this sport that has for so long needed a growth spurt. It’s about building the community that allows players to grab dinners with strangers in Austria, to crash on a couch in Rio, to know the best local spots in Spain, with the only connecting thread being the sport of beach volleyball.

“It goes beyond beach volleyball for me,” Burik said. “It’s about getting a platform. My why is more – get the platform to start making the world better. I think I do that successfully with my coaching. I think I teach people how to be better partners, how to talk to each other better. I teach them how to talk to their partners, similar to how they talk to their wife or girlfriend. You don’t want to nag, you know? You want to build each other up. In the end, my why is about getting a platform and helping, even a couple people. It’ll make their lives a little bit easier.”

Jaksot(500)

Nick Lucena isn't ready for the life of the retired dad just yet

Nick Lucena isn't ready for the life of the retired dad just yet

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Nick Lucena, one of the top defenders on the AVP and FIVB tours of his generation. In this episode, we discuss: What this year has looked like for Lucena, which began in Doha and ended in a wild trip to Australia Playing a fun, no-block tournament with Taylor Crabb Why he and Phil Dalhausser decided to split-block in the AVP Chicago tournament in 2018 What motivates Lucena, who is 41 years old, to continue playing The competitive streak that has kept him at the top of his game since his early 20s The four-week expedited training schedule he and Dalhausser undertook to prepare for the AVP Champions Cup How crazy the U.S. will look without Dalhausser and Jake Gibb in the game after this season This episode is, as always, brought to you by Wilson volleyball. They make the best balls in the game, and you can get 20 percent off by using our discount code, Sandcast-20.  Be sure to check out our new book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, on Amazon and, if you're feeling extra magnanimous, drop us a review! It goes a long way.  Thanks as always for listening! SHOOTS!

11 Marras 20201h 19min

Three gold medals of wisdom with Misty May-Treanor

Three gold medals of wisdom with Misty May-Treanor

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4 Marras 20201h 16min

Three years of unbelievable growth, change in three years of SANDCAST

Three years of unbelievable growth, change in three years of SANDCAST

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features the hosts, Bourne and Mewhirter, as well as a new voice on the show, Savvy Simo, as we celebrate our three year anniversary of doing the podcast.  On this episode, we recap the long and short three-year journey we've been on, and answer a wide variety of fan questions, such as... - How would you rank the top 10 men's teams right now going into the Olympics in 2021? Norway still #1?   - How would you rank Taylor within the group of top 5 defenders and why? - What is the direction that USAV is headed with Tyler Hildebrand going back to Nebraska?  - Seems like the players would love more chances to play and you’ve seen first hand how into beach/sand volleyball places that don’t actually have beaches can be (Cincinnati) plus you’ve seen the indoor sand facilities. So what’s your take on playing sand indoors during the winter months? - You’ve done a great job of interviewing the players and giving a bit more depth to the game from this fan’s perspective. You asked for some questions. You’ll undoubtedly get the most [surprising, best, worst, hilarious, .. etc], but I’m curious if you see the growth and acceptance of the game changing? Are you more or less positive looking forward? And what about existing and potential sponsors - how do you see that world now? Many, many more. Thanks, as always, for listening to the show! If you want to drop us a review in iTunes, we'd appreciate it.  And, as always, thanks to Wilson Volleyball for sponsoring the show! If you want 20 percent off the best balls in the game, check out Wilson using our discount code SANDCAST-20 for 20 percent off! SHOOTS!

28 Loka 20201h 11min

Julia Scoles: Finding peace amid life's biggest decisions

Julia Scoles: Finding peace amid life's biggest decisions

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Julia Scoles, a phenomenal indoor player at the University of North Carolina who transferred to Hawai'i to play beach after a series of concussions. After an incredibly successful stint as a Bow, Scoles transferred to USC, where, a year later, she is still waiting to make her debut as a Trojan.  On this episode, we discuss: - Scoles' path from Carolina to Hawai'i to USC - Her steep learning curve on the beach - Winning her first tournament at the Waupaca Boatride with Hailey Harward - How she has found peace amid all these momentous life decisions, and the stress of going from the East Coast to halfway around the world to Hawai'i  - Her five-year plan as a professional volleyball player after she graduates from USC As always, this episode is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the best balls in the game. Use our discount code, Sandcast-20 to get 20 percent off all Wilson products!  We would also LOVE it if you checked out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, which can be bought on Amazon. And, if you've already read it, drop us a review! It only helps spread the beach love :) SHOOTS!

21 Loka 202050min

Avery Drost: Becoming beach volleyball's ultimate utility man

Avery Drost: Becoming beach volleyball's ultimate utility man

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter is with Avery Drost, a longtime pro who has been competing on the AVP Tour for 10 years.  On this episode, we discuss: - Drost winning the Hyden Beach AVP Next with Miles Partain - Just how good the 18-year-old Partain is becoming - Drost finding the best practice regimen and weight lifting schedule for his body - Finding the right playing weight - His goals when it comes to beach volleyball - Transitioning to a right-side defender with Ryan Doherty - His overall confusion -- in a good way -- over what position to play, given his ability to thrive all over the court This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the best beach volleyballs in the game. Use our discount code, Sandcast-20, for 20 percent off!  We'd love it if you checked out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, on Amazon, and we'd really love it if you dropped us a review as well! It goes a long way.  SHOOTS!

14 Loka 202057min

Jordan Cheng: Making a career out of "Once in a lifetime opportunities"

Jordan Cheng: Making a career out of "Once in a lifetime opportunities"

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is with Jordan Cheng, the coach of Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil, the 10th-ranked team in the world and No. 3 in the American Olympic race.  On this episode, we discuss: - Cheng's career as a coach, how his intentions to play professionally were constantly derailed by "once in a lifetime" coaching opportunities at Pepperdine, under Marv Dunphy, USA Volleyball under John Speraw, UCI, Reid Priddy and, now, Sponcil and Claes - How Cheng, 28 years old at the time, came to be the coach for Priddy, one of the best volleyball players of all time - His coaching philosophy: "I don't want to be a JV version of Jose Loiola. I want to be a varsity version of myself." - How he came to coach Claes and Sponcil - The importance of pursuing something bigger than beach volleyball This episode is, as always, brought to you by Wilson volleyball. They make the best balls in the game, and you can get 20 percent off by using our discount code, Sandcast-20.  Be sure to check out our new book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, on Amazon and, if you're feeling extra magnanimous, drop us a review! It goes a long way.  Thanks as always for listening! SHOOTS!

7 Loka 202050min

Answering beach volleyball's questions in a year with no shortage of them

Answering beach volleyball's questions in a year with no shortage of them

On this episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, we answer fan questions in our "season ending" episode, even if there wasn't much of a season in the first place. Some of those questions include: - What's this secret event Tri has been training for? - Who are some of the younger players, other than Andy Benesh and Eric Beranek, we should be looking out for? - Is Miles Partain the real deal or what? - What beach players are getting out of the game after this year? - If you could change one thing about the Olympic qualifying process, what would it be? - What do you think the 2021 season will look like? We answer a few more as well. Enjoy! SHOOTS!

30 Syys 20201h 2min

Randy Stoklos is still the King of the Beach

Randy Stoklos is still the King of the Beach

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is with one of the greatest players of all-time, with 123 victories, including four at the Manhattan Beach Open.  More than that, Stoklos, along with his partner, Sinjin Smith, is one of the most influential individuals in beach history, instrumental in pushing beach volleyball worldwide. Without Stoklos and Smith, it's possible the sport would not currently be in the Olympic Games.  On this episode, we cover a lot of ground, including: - Stoklos' upbringing with his father, Rudy, a Polish immigrant who escaped a concentration camp in Nazi Germany.  - Winning the Manhattan Beach Open at age 20 with the legendary Jim Menges - How he and Sinjin Smith partnered, both of them turning down an offer from Karch Kiraly to do so  - Stoklos' and Sinjin's epic 11-year partnership, in which they won more tournaments (115) than any team in beach volleyball history - Their push for the FIVB, and international volleyball - An incredible story from Ipanema, where he and Smith were dubbed the Kings of Rio - So much more. Honestly, just listen. It's amazing. You'll love it.  SHOOTS!

23 Syys 20201h 33min

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