Spike Boarts Stories Part 1

04/25/20 • 44 min

Spike Boarts Stories Part 1.
Spike Discusses: The 1962 USVBA Nationals in Philadelphia where his team finished 5th, watching the Hollywood YMCA led team there that year coached by Harry Wilson compete against Gene Selznick's Westside Jewish Community Center team in the finals, and not getting to see Dick Clark's American Bandstand :) , the 1963 USVBA Nationals when he played for the Hollywood Y Stars alongside all the legends when he was an 18 year old kid against Stockton in the finals, and how coach Harry Wilson inserted him in game 2 ( after they lost game 1, in a best of 3) and they were down 8-13, and he served several points in a row and they ended up winning game 2 and the match and championship, Bill Olsson and how amazing he was as a hitter, Gene Selznick and how he was such an otherworldly talent on the court as the best all around player - hands down, some classic stories about Mike Bright ( including getting Bright drunk at the Panther Room on a Saturday night before his match the next day at Laguna in '62, and how Bright was so hung over, it helped Dave Bordwell and Gordon Evans win the Laguna Open, , some great stories about Pete Ott, Mike Anderson, and Nate Parrish, and playing at Shattuck's in Hermosa beach as teenager growing up, including a story when Mike Bright bounced a ball over the house one day, and how he had too much to drink one another time there at the age of 18 on Bourbon ( first time he drank hard liquor), then puked his guts out in the 9th street alley, and couldn't go out for his date that night and had to have his parents call his date to let her know, meeting Keith Erickson at the age of 14 at the El Segundo Rec center and setting him balls that he pounded , the best hitters he ever saw ( Olsson, Suwara, and Chamales), and his recollection of Bill Imwalle, Buzz Swarts, and Matt Gage as young upstarts in the south bay....
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Al Scates-Part 3.

Al discusses: The 1965 UCLA team he had, featuring Ernie Suwara, Larry Rundle, and Keith Erickson, how those 3 legends of the sport ended up at UCLA playing for him ( including what made each one of them SPECIAL as a player and some great stories about each), more information about his DAD, a trip to Mexico City in 1965 with the USA team, and how it led to some amazing ideas Al brought back to UCLA and the athletic director when they were constructing the Pauley Pavilion ( including how the crowd of 5,000 attendees they drew playing the Japanese National Men's and Women's teams at Pauley when it first opened), which led to AD JD Morgan fighting for volleyball to become an NCAA sport in '70 when UCLA defeated LBSU, his amazing 1984 team featuring Ricci Luyties, Doug Partie, Roger Clark, etc., an amazing trip to Taiwan with his Bruins when they WON against the national teams competing there, and the infamous Mike Stomin' Normand circle drill he incorporated to condition his players after 1974....

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Spike Boarts' Stories Part 2

Spike Discusses:
- Playing in a mixed open on the beach with Kathy Gregory, his South Bay buddies he grew up with, handi -cap tournaments he played in and won with Bill Leeka one year, and Dennis "the Condor" Duggan the next year, his time playing indoors for the the Hollywood Y Comets, playing for the Olympic Club indoor 6 man USVBA team and winning the Far Westerns tournament, how he met his AMAZING wife at the beach, his memories of playing at his home beach: Marine Street in Manhattan Beach, playing for the Legends indoor 6 man team alongside so many great players and winning multiple Gold Medals in their age group for multiple decades, including 3 Gold Medals at the World Games against the BEST players in the world, a USVBA Nationals tournament in San Francisco when he and his teammates ( except for one rookie), made a pyramid in the elevator wearing nothing but their underwear and the rookie ( Danny Patterson) hit the elevator button on the lobby floor only to see his veteran teammates in all their naked glory when the elevator reached him, ( which the young teenage phenom was shocked by!) , and some great beach stories about playing with Rich Riffero, and Bob Hogan, and some incredible Keith Erickson stories regarding how amazing of an athlete he was.

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