SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter19 Feb 2020

Camryn Irwin is living the dream

It’s May 16, 2018, the eve of Camryn Irwin’s debut as an Amazon Prime broadcaster calling AVP tournaments. She gets a call from the AVP. They inform her that she’ll be calling play by play.

“Ok!” Irwin says. “That’s new!”

“We don’t know what the format is going to look like, we’re just going to figure it out as we go.”

“Ok,” Irwin replies again.

“Don’t screw up. This is our brand.”

Now it’s Amazon on the horn, and they’re telling Irwin that “This is our Amazon brand. Don’t screw up.”

“Ok,” Irwin says one more time. “Here we go. I’m calling play by play tomorrow!”

A year and a half later, she’ll recall this experience on SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter. And she’ll say “talk about fear,” because she’s human, and any human being would be more than a bit intimidated when put into those circumstances. But she did it all the same. And she’s still doing it, establishing herself as a popular and lovable personality on the AVP and Amazon, because this is Camryn Irwin, and she’s done all that before.

Fear? No, fear isn’t the AVP and Amazon asking you to do something you know you’re talented at, that you know you’ll figure out, because you’re the queen of figuring things out on the fly.

Fear is when load up on a block, jump, and, just as you’re about to peak, you feel your back “just release,” Irwin said. “There is nothing supporting me and there was nothing I could do. I landed and my whole spine went thwack. I went back to go serve the next point and I remember tossing it, I went to jump, and I couldn’t breathe.”

This was in Sweden, just two years into her professional indoor career after a successful indoor stint at Washington State. It would take a month for Irwin to find out that she had a rupture in her back, that she had absolutely no business playing volleyball after that jump but she did so anyways because volleyball was what Irwin knew and volleyball was where her teammates and friends were. So she finished her season on her broken back, and when she returned, she figured she’d move onto the next phase of her life’s plan: Irwin was going to become a professional beach volleyball player on the AVP Tour.

Until she began training, and she began to lose feeling in her legs.

She is positive enough to label the injury a “total God thing,” because without that injury, she wouldn’t be spending her summers in the booth with her good friends Kevin Barnett and Dain Blanton. She wouldn’t be spending exponentially more hours in beach volleyball than the players she’s calling. She wouldn’t have a job she hesitates labeling a job because it’s just so much dang fun that it feels wrong to call it anything but a dream.

“It’s literally a dream job, because it’s not just about volleyball, it’s not just about athletes,” Irwin said. “I get to work with two of my best friends and their amazing families on a regular basis. My job is to share your story, so you can impact someone else’s life. That’s the stuff that gets my engine going.”

Irwin was one of the rare collegiate athletes who saw past her career in her respective sport. Even as a successful setter at Washington State with professional prospects down the line, she kindled her passion for storytelling, sacrificing sleep to shoot, edit and produce videos only a handful of people would watch.

“I knew I had this gameplan: I want to tell stories, I want to shape lives,” Irwin said. “I was so driven. But even with that drive in my brain, I was like ‘How in the world do I do this? Where do I even start?’ I’m out from the sticks in Washington State. I grew up on a farm, there’s no network television. It’s not like there’s some guy saying ‘Get an agent, get a head shot.’ I just said ‘Grind it out. Connect with people. Talk to people, and fail 100 times a day and figure it out.’ Still to this day people will ask me how I got to where I am and I say a lot of hard work without knowing the outcome.”

When she returned from Sweden to finish her degree at Washington State, she was able to call football games, learning under the legendary – and enormous personality – Mike Leach, one of the finest minds in the sport. So when she’s calling games for ESPN or the Pac-12 Network, she’s doing so with the education from men like Leach, who is 139-90 in his career with two Pac-12 division titles to his name, and Graham Harrell, the current offensive coordinator at USC. The jobs she was working paid $15 a piece; the education she gained continues to pay dividends, mapping out a rapidly ascending career as a broadcaster.

“It was all about building relationships and writing stories on these guys and I was just hoping the Pac-12 would give me a chance and they did,” Irwin said. “There’s no training for this. You just have to be super ballsy, and you have to be ok sounding like an idiot and not knowing what you’re doing and just listen to yourself, critique yourself, be super hard on yourself, and trying to find out what your voice is.”

Her voice, as creatives know, will be an ongoing project for the remainder of her career. It’ll evolve, improve, change. But her passion for what she does and the people with whom she does it, be it the athletes she’s calling or her colleagues calling with her, is what makes Irwin so good at what she does. It’s what allows her to run off four hours of sleep during AVP weekends, nerding out on volleyball by studying her self-made binders. It’s why she can take calls from the AVP and Amazon the night before her long-awaited debut in beach volleyball and know that it’s going to work out fine.

“I was a volleyball player since I was 5 years old,” she said. “I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where beach volleyball wasn’t a thing. I love the indoor game and I love the beach game, but my biggest thing is to be able to help build and represent a brand and a sport that is so cherished to me, especially something that I got to participate on the indoor side in college and overseas for a few years, I feel like it got ripped from me. To be so involved in a sport that is still so dear to my heart and to have that shown, I can’t work hard enough for this sport because I love it that much. The 4 hours of sleep at night, the stupid binders I make, the relationships – it’s all so genuine to me because I love this game so much and I love all the people in it.

“To get the call from Amazon and the AVP was way more meaningful to me than anybody really realizes.”

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Chase Budinger and Miles Evans: The USA Underdogs Who Shocked the Beach Volleyball World

This Olympic episode is sponsored by BetOnline! Finally we have a betting sponsor y'all! Use our specific link to sign up and SANDCAST gets a $70 bonus! https://www.betonline.ag/?btag=l2Q0kqrs0suk3WqdcAbDv2Nd7ZgqdRLk&affid=111149 *** This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Chase Budinger and Miles Evans. Entering this Olympic qualifying period fifth on the USA Volleyball roster, Budinger and Evans sprinted up the ranks, punching their ticket to the Paris Olympic Games and becoming one of the most intriguing storylines in Paris. On this episode, we chat about: The importance of their first gold medal as a team at the Haikou Challenge of 2023 Why a NORCECA qualifier this past Spring was the event they believe truly decided the Olympic race The media frenzy that has ensued, and how even Budinger, with his NBA background, hasn’t experienced anything like this Their mindset and strategy heading into Paris And a whole lot more. Awesome episode with Budinger and Evans! SHOOTS! *** Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST63. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. We have a new book! Playbook of Champions: The habits, routines, and stories of Olympians, Champions, and world-class athletes. If you listen to the show – which, if you’re reading this, then you are – then this is the perfect book for you, as it is a distillation of the best golden nuggets from our first five years of the podcast. Check it out on Amazon! We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

24 Juli 20241h 12min

Men's Olympic Beach Volleyball Preview: It's Sweden and Norway vs. The Field

This Olympic episode is sponsored by BetOnline! Finally we have a betting sponsor y'all! Use our specific link to sign up and SANDCAST gets a $70 bonus! https://www.betonline.ag/?btag=l2Q0kqrs0suk3WqdcAbDv2Nd7ZgqdRLk&affid=111149 *** This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is our Men’s Olympic Beach Volleyball Preview, guest starring Brian Cook, a former professional indoor and beach player who is now the co-founder of TruVolley, diving deep into the analytical side of the game. On this episode, we chat about: Why Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig have a 40 percent shot at winning a gold medal Anders Mol and Christian Sorum are…underdogs? Wild to think about. What are the odds of a USA medal, between Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, and Chase Budinger and Miles Evans? Why Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot are one of the most high-value underdogs in the Olympics And a whole lot more. Absolute blast on this episode with Brian, who we hope to bring on a lot more. SHOOTS! *** Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST63. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. We have a new book! Playbook of Champions: The habits, routines, and stories of Olympians, Champions, and world-class athletes. If you listen to the show – which, if you’re reading this, then you are – then this is the perfect book for you, as it is a distillation of the best golden nuggets from our first five years of the podcast. Check it out on Amazon! We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

22 Juli 202453min

Can the USA win back to back golds? Women's Olympic Indoor Volleyball Preview

This women's Olympic indoor volleyball preview is sponsored by BetOnline! Finally we have a betting sponsor y'all! Use our specific link to sign up and SANDCAST gets a $70 bonus! https://www.betonline.ag/?btag=l2Q0kqrs0suk3WqdcAbDv2Nd7ZgqdRLk&affid=111149 *** We are breaking out all the stops for our coverage of the Paris Olympic Games, subbing out the Road to Paris for the Paris Pod, or the Olympic Outlook -- your choice! We're bringing in indoor volleyball expert Matt Prosser to break down the men's and women’s Olympic indoor volleyball preview. - How can the USA win back to back gold medals after winning their first in Tokyo in 2021? - Does Italy, the odds-on favorite, have what it takes to win gold? - Where do Turkey and Brazil stand in terms of likelihood to make the podium? - Does Poland have a Cinderella run in it? That and more, as the Olympic Games are less than two weeks away! *** Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. We have a new book! Playbook of Champions: The habits, routines, and stories of Olympians, Champions, and world-class athletes. If you listen to the show – which, if you’re reading this, then you are – then this is the perfect book for you, as it is a distillation of the best golden nuggets from our first five years of the podcast. Check it out on Amazon! We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

19 Juli 202427min

Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Bobner: Qualifying for the Paris Olympics by Doing it Their Own Way

This Olympic episode is sponsored by BetOnline! Finally we have a betting sponsor y'all! Use our specific link to sign up and SANDCAST gets a $70 bonus! https://www.betonline.ag/?btag=l2Q0kqrs0suk3WqdcAbDv2Nd7ZgqdRLk&affid=111149 *** This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Bobner, one of the fastest rising teams in beach volleyball and Switzerland’s No. 2 team heading into the Paris Olympic Games. We recorded this episode with Kyle Friend as a co-host in Gstaad, home of Verge-Depre and Bobner and home to one of the most epic events on the volleyball calendar. We chat about: Their rapid rise up through the ranks and into the Olympic Games Why they never felt confident throughout the entire Olympic race What it was like for Zoe to race against her sister, Anouk Verge-Depre, for the final spot in Paris Why “doing you” even when it comes with making mistakes, is the best way to learn and grow on the Beach Pro Tour That, and so much more. Super fun chat with Zoe and Esmee! SHOOTS! *** Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST63. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. We have a new book! Playbook of Champions: The habits, routines, and stories of Olympians, Champions, and world-class athletes. If you listen to the show – which, if you’re reading this, then you are – then this is the perfect book for you, as it is a distillation of the best golden nuggets from our first five years of the podcast. Check it out on Amazon! We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

17 Juli 202440min

MEN'S OLYMPIC INDOOR VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW AND BETTING GUIDE: Can Anybody Stop Italy?

This men's Olympic indoor volleyball preview is sponsored by BetOnline! Finally we have a betting sponsor y'all! Use our specific link to sign up and SANDCAST gets a $70 bonus! https://www.betonline.ag/?btag=l2Q0kqrs0suk3WqdcAbDv2Nd7ZgqdRLk&affid=111149 *** We are breaking out all the stops for our coverage of the Paris Olympic Games, subbing out the Road to Paris for the Paris Pod, or the Olympic Outlook -- your choice! We're bringing in indoor volleyball expert Matt Prosser to break down the men's Olympic indoor volleyball preview. - Can anybody stop Italy? - Can France repeat as Olympic champs, riding the high of a VNL victory? - What does the United States need to do to get back on the podium and atone for the disastrous performance at the Tokyo Olympic Games? - Does Poland have a shot at winning gold at the Paris Olympics? That and more, as the Olympic Games are less than two weeks away! *** Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. We have a new book! Playbook of Champions: The habits, routines, and stories of Olympians, Champions, and world-class athletes. If you listen to the show – which, if you’re reading this, then you are – then this is the perfect book for you, as it is a distillation of the best golden nuggets from our first five years of the podcast. Check it out on Amazon! We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

15 Juli 202444min

George Wanderley: Brazil's Top Defender in Search of an Olympic Podium

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features George Wanderley, one of the best defenders in the world who will be competing in his first Olympic Games later this summer with Andre Loyola. George is the owner of two youth World Championships with Arthur Mariano, a World Championship bronze medal, and five medals in the 2024 season alone, tied for most in the world with Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig. Such a fun chat with George on his balcony in Gstaad, in which we cover: What it was like growing up around Ricardo Santos, Emanuel Rego, Alison Cerruti, Bruno Schmidt, and the other legends of the game Why he wishes more young talent hit World Tour earlier, as he did when he was just a teenager How he and Andre Loyola maximize their play on the court by being best friends (and literal best men) off of it His prime mental state prior to a match And so, so much more. Absolute blast with George! SHOOTS! *** Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. We have a new book! Playbook of Champions: The habits, routines, and stories of Olympians, Champions, and world-class athletes. If you listen to the show – which, if you’re reading this, then you are – then this is the perfect book for you, as it is a distillation of the best golden nuggets from our first five years of the podcast. Check it out on Amazon! We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

10 Juli 20241h 9min

Savvy Simo: Putting mental health at the forefront of professional sports

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Savvy Simo. Long one of our co-hosts, Savvy is also a rising talent on the AVP Tour and the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. And she's thriving in spite of going through regular panic attacks that, in her words, make her "feel like I'm going to die." Including on the court at the recent Stare Jablonki Challenge, where she didn't sleep and had a panic attack in the middle of a match. Incredible vulnerability from Sav on this one, on which we chat about: Why she feels like she’s playing her best beach volleyball this season Her history of panic attacks, and how she felt as if she “was going to die” at the Stare Jablonki Challenge Why she now views her perpetual anxiety as a superpower How she has managed her anxiety and panic attacks up to this point And so, so much more. Really, really good episode with Sav. SHOOTS! *** Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. We have a new book! Playbook of Champions: The habits, routines, and stories of Olympians, Champions, and world-class athletes. If you listen to the show – which, if you’re reading this, then you are – then this is the perfect book for you, as it is a distillation of the best golden nuggets from our first five years of the podcast. Check it out on Amazon! We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

3 Juli 20241h 27min

Mark Paaluhi, and the revival of professional beach volleyball in Hermosa Beach

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Mark Paaluhi, the man who is currently keeping professional beach volleyball alive in Hermosa Beach. How? By running a city-held Hermosa Beach Open. When the city and the AVP couldn’t come to terms on an event in 2024, Paaluhi stepped up and has since taken the reins. The 2024 Hermosa Beach Open will be held September 4-7 in Hermosa Beach, California. There will be a qualifier on September 4, while the main draw will be held on the 5, 6, and 7. Volleyball TV will be streaming the event. For more information and how to support, go to https://hermosa-open.com/ We chat all about that, as well as: Why Paaluhi decided to take on the monster task of putting on a major tournament How popcorn was his ultimate lightbulb moment What Hermosa Beach means to the beach volleyball community Why it will be an old school feel to this tournament, and why Paaluhi thinks that’s the way of the sport moving forward SHOOTS! *** Book your spot in Root and Fruit Nutrition's new Genomic Edge Program! Just 30 spots remain in a must-have competitive edge! Looking for the cleanest supplements in the business? Momentous has you covered. Use SANDCAST15 for 15 percent off. Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. We have a new book! Playbook of Champions: The habits, routines, and stories of Olympians, Champions, and world-class athletes. If you listen to the show – which, if you’re reading this, then you are – then this is the perfect book for you, as it is a distillation of the best golden nuggets from our first five years of the podcast. Check it out on Amazon! We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

26 Juni 20241h 19min

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