Charlie Brande, And a Dive Into The Heart of Volleyball

JD Hamilton has had one of the most extraordinary journeys onto the AVP Tour of anyone who has qualified in recent memory. Long one of the nation’s top grassroots players, winning every kind of tournament in any sort of format in any state or city or town you can imagine, one major feat eluded Hamilton: Qualifying on the AVP Tour. In Virginia Beach with Travis Mewhirter, he alas did it, qualifying for the Hermosa Beach Pro Series. We recorded this episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, before Hermosa, so some of this may seem outdated, but we actually think it’s a sweet look back at his mindset before the event. We chatted about that, as well as: What these last eight years of trying and failing and trying and failing have been like The sweet moment when he alas qualified in Virginia His road dog summer of 2017 with Christian Honer, when he made the final round of the qualifier over and over and over again – yet never qualified Hunting and fishing and all manner of amazing outdoorsy things And goodness, so much more. ENJOY! PHOTO CREDS: Ken Delgado! *** Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter 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! A huge shoutout to our new sponsor, Goodr! Making the best shades on the beach, for the easy price of $25! Goodr makes $25 active sunglasses that don’t slip, don’t bounce, and are 100% Polarized! If you want to support the show and pick up a pair, goodr is giving SANDCAST listeners FREE SHIPPING on your first order! You can go to goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. goodr offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and 100% Satisfaction. Find your pair at goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. We have a new -- but temporary -- sponsor with the Saucedwear Tournament, a $17,000 open with $5k to the winners down in Navarre Beach, Fla., where Travis Mewhirter first learned to play. Registration ends on July 14, and players can sign up at saucedwear.com!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball 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 SHOOTS!

26 Juli 20231h 27min

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Chase Frishman. Long one of the most exciting defenders on the AVP Tour – and he won the 2016 AVP Rookie of the Year – Frishman has found a bigger, more purposeful use for his talents with the founding of Flight School Volleyball, a series of camps and clinics around the USA, from Idaho to Pennsylvania to Montana and everywhere in between. We chat all about the big year he's having on the AVP, as well as: Why he loves the collaborative element of Flight School, where he gets to work with, and even pay, the very players he competes against How he stumbled upon Flight School, and the purpose it has helped him find His mindset as a player, and how he uses flow to rack up 19 digs in a single match Why Flight School helps even him learn from players such as Taylor Crabb, Zana Muno, Troy Field, and others And so much more. Such a fun chat with Chase! ENJOY! *** Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter 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! A huge shoutout to our new sponsor, Goodr! Making the best shades on the beach, for the easy price of $25! Goodr makes $25 active sunglasses that don’t slip, don’t bounce, and are 100% Polarized! If you want to support the show and pick up a pair, goodr is giving SANDCAST listeners FREE SHIPPING on your first order! You can go to goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. goodr offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and 100% Satisfaction. Find your pair at goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. We have a new -- but temporary -- sponsor with the Saucedwear Tournament, a $17,000 open with $5k to the winners down in Navarre Beach, Fla., where Travis Mewhirter first learned to play. Registration ends on July 14, and players can sign up at saucedwear.com!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball 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 SHOOTS!

19 Juli 20231h 23min

This is a special edition of the Road to Paris, where Travis Mewhirter breaks down the Olympic beach volleyball race to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Mewhirter is in Ketchikan, Alaska with the Knudsen fam, catching salmon and eating nothing but salmon. He made a deal with himself: He’d only do a Road to Paris if an American team won a gold medal at the Volleyball World Espinho Challenge…which is exactly what Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner did! So Mewhirter did what he always does, breaking down: How Trevor and Theo just helped the USA do something it hasn’t accomplished in 9 years Brazilians Evandro Goncalves and Arthur Mariano jumping up to No. 2 in the world Austrians Alex Horst and Julian Horl continue to surprise with their silver medal A full Brazilian sweep of the podium on the women’s side – but why Mewhirter still isn’t buying into the majority of the Brazilian federation And a whole lot more. ENJOY! *** Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter 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! A huge shoutout to our new sponsor, Goodr! Making the best shades on the beach, for the easy price of $25! Goodr makes $25 active sunglasses that don’t slip, don’t bounce, and are 100% Polarized! If you want to support the show and pick up a pair, goodr is giving SANDCAST listeners FREE SHIPPING on your first order! You can go to goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. goodr offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and 100% Satisfaction. Find your pair at goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. We have a new -- but temporary -- sponsor with the Saucedwear Tournament, a $17,000 open with $5k to the winners down in Navarre Beach, Fla., where Travis Mewhirter first learned to play. Registration ends on July 14, and players can sign up at saucedwear.com!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball 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 SHOOTS!

17 Juli 202316min

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Scott Davenport, the man who is arguably the most sought-out beach volleyball coach in America. Since stopping playing on the AVP Tour around 2006, Davenport has built a lengthy list of athletes on his roster, including Nick Lucena, Matt Fuerbringer, Casey Patterson, Theo Brunner, Chaim Schalk, Emily Stockman, Sarah Sponcil, Terese Cannon, Troy Field, Evan Cory, Megan Kraft, Zana Muno – shall the list go on? You get the point. In 2022, Davenport became the first coach in history to win the same AVP tournament – AVP Hermosa Beach – coaching a men’s and a women’s team when Sponcil and Cannon, and Schalk and Brunner, both claimed the title. He’s a medal-winning machine, that guy. We chatted all about his athletes, as well as: His circuitous journey from Rochester, New York – hometown of Terese Cannon – to becoming a beach volleyball coach in Southern California How training with Karch Kiraly shifted his coaching mindset How biomechanics and data are the bedrock of his coaching What we can learn from men such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant And so, so much more. Action-packed podcast for you, ladies and gentlemen. SHOOTS! *** Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter 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! A huge shoutout to our new sponsor, Goodr! Making the best shades on the beach, for the easy price of $25! Goodr makes $25 active sunglasses that don’t slip, don’t bounce, and are 100% Polarized! If you want to support the show and pick up a pair, goodr is giving SANDCAST listeners FREE SHIPPING on your first order! You can go to goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. goodr offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and 100% Satisfaction. Find your pair at goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. We have a new -- but temporary -- sponsor with the Saucedwear Tournament, a $17,000 open with $5k to the winners down in Navarre Beach, Fla., where Travis Mewhirter first learned to play. Registration ends on July 14, and players can sign up at saucedwear.com!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball 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 SHOOTS!

12 Juli 20231h 29min

This is episode No. 8 of The Road to Paris, where Travis Mewhirter breaks down the race to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. This episode follows the  @volleyballworld  Gstaad Elite16, where Andy Benesh and Miles Partain just won perhaps the most significant gold medal since Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser won gold at the Beijing Olympic Games. That's not all, either: Twice, they topped Anders Mol and Christian Sorum. Meanwhile... - Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes took another silver medal and a cowbell - Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth won bronze - Germans Cinja Tillman and Svenja Muller are back on tour with a big fourth - George Wanderley and Andre Loyola won their first Elite16 medal of the season - The Grimalts are kinda sorta maybe back (who knows with them) And a whole lot more! Thanks as always for supporting the show! SHOOTS! *** Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter 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! A huge shoutout to our new sponsor, Goodr! Making the best shades on the beach, for the easy price of $25! Goodr makes $25 active sunglasses that don’t slip, don’t bounce, and are 100% Polarized! If you want to support the show and pick up a pair, goodr is giving SANDCAST listeners FREE SHIPPING on your first order! You can go to goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. goodr offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and 100% Satisfaction. Find your pair at goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. We have a new -- but temporary -- sponsor with the Saucedwear Tournament, a $17,000 open with $5k to the winners down in Navarre Beach, Fla., where Travis Mewhirter first learned to play. Registration ends on July 14, and players can sign up at saucedwear.com!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball 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 SHOOTS!

11 Juli 202322min

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is a special one, as it is the launch of our 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. You can buy the book on Amazon!  We whittled it down into 352 pages, featuring everyone from gold medalists such as April Ross and Alix Klineman to the legends in Sinjin Smith and Kent Steffes and Karch Kiraly to the entrepreneurs in this sport like Mark Burik and Brandon Joyner to the coaches who are developing the next generation such as John Mayer, Angie Akers, Jose Loiola, and more. It is – and I’m biased, I know – a phenomenal book, and I cannot recommend it enough. On this episode, we chatted about: How unexpected the success of this podcast has been The incredible lessons we’ve both taken away from it, and how it has been a massive factor in Travis’ success as a player, expediting his improvement beyond any measurable degree How it has inspired Tri to look beyond simply playing beach volleyball as a career, making him think about his next possible steps And our favorite and most memorable episodes of the podcast And so, so much more. We appreciate y’all so much for listening and supporting us for the past five-plus years! Much love, and many more big things to come! SHOOTS! *** Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter 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! A huge shoutout to our new sponsor, Goodr! Making the best shades on the beach, for the easy price of $25! Goodr makes $25 active sunglasses that don’t slip, don’t bounce, and are 100% Polarized! If you want to support the show and pick up a pair, goodr is giving SANDCAST listeners FREE SHIPPING on your first order! You can go to goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. goodr offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and 100% Satisfaction. Find your pair at goodr.com/SANDCAST and use code SANDCAST to get FREE shipping. We have a new -- but temporary -- sponsor with the Saucedwear Tournament, a $17,000 open with $5k to the winners down in Navarre Beach, Fla., where Travis Mewhirter first learned to play. Registration ends on July 14, and players can sign up at saucedwear.com!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball 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 SHOOTS!

5 Juli 202350min

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Dain Blanton, the head coach of the USC Beach Volleyball team and the man who has built the biggest dynasty in all of college sports right now. Despite losing 12 players from last year’s NCAA Championship-winning team, Blanton rebuilt in a hurry, winning a third straight NCAA title this past May. Indeed, life is good to be Blanton, and it’s good to be a USC Trojan. We chatted all about this year’s run, as well as: Blanton’s recruiting process, and how he has a unique challenge in navigating the equivalency nature of scholarships rather than head count Why he is such an advocate for single-elimination NCAA Championship, in spite of that format hurting dominant teams such as USC How he managed to rebuild his entire lineup in the span of a few months The constantly changing landscape of NCAA Beach Volleyball, and women’s sports in general And so much more! Absolute blast, as always, hanging with Dain. ENJOY! *** We have a new -- but temporary -- sponsor with the Saucedwear Tournament, a $17,000 open with $5k to the winners down in Navarre Beach, Fla., where Travis Mewhirter first learned to play. Registration ends on July 14, and players can sign up at saucedwear.com!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball 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 SHOOTS!

28 Juni 20231h 43min

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Brook Bauer, one of dozens of bright young talents emerging on the AVP and Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. After a successful undergraduate career at Pepperdine, Bauer finished at Florida State, where she went 29-12 on court one. After a brief, three-month hiatus in which she pursued a full-time job putting her MBA to use, Bauer quit, and is now fully invested in a career on the beach. We chatted about all of that, as well as: Her first time leaving the country to play a pair of Futures events in Turkey and Poland – and the indelible memories created from a wild travel day Why taking three months to test out a full-time job was the best thing she could have done for her beach career The “loose, grateful mindset” she’s cultivated How Brooke Niles, her coach at Florida State, nudged her to pursue the beach full-time, and why Niles is always, always, always right And a whole lot more. SHOOTS! *** Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball 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 SHOOTS!

21 Juni 20231h 24min