This past Saturday I found myself observing beach volleyball in a new setting, at North Avenue beach. I typically observe and/or play at Montrose which I found is quite different.
PLACE: I didn't actually choose North Avenue beach. Montrose didn't have parking so we were forced to go North Avenue and pay in the lot. Nonetheless, it was interesting and entertaining. It is always the most crowded beach, ripe with young people showing off their "goods" and drinking illegally. The specific place was the south end of the beach where all of the sand volleyball courts available for rent- it is difficult to get a court so groups of people often go early and stake out a couple courts to hog for the rest of the day. (This is the Saturday beach scene)
ACTORS: The actors in the situation are the volleyball players and the other "volleyball players". Let me explain, at Montrose people actually go there to play volleyball (they are they volleyball players) and there are a few courts of actual volleyball players at North Avenue beach. However, the vast majority of people at North Avenue Beach are "volleyball players" ie. they are there for the social scene and/or don't know how to play.
ACTIVITY: What I saw was that the guy "volleyball players" at North Avenue are there to show off for the girls. They meticulously plan their look and pose after each play. Most can't even play very well. The girls watch on the side for a little while until the guys end their match and invite the girls to "play". Then the girl "volleyball players" prance and dive around in their bikinis trying to look cute for the guys. They can't actually play volleyball, but the guys let them stick around in hopes of getting their number or something.
At one point a group of four girls started to play on our court without our permission when we left to retrieve a ball that went in the lake (I was with a group of guys who actually were volleyball players). They didn't know how to play and had basically stolen the court, but their attractiveness flustered the guys I was with so they were too afraid to ask them to leave. Finally, after a couple witty/rude comments from me one of the guys asked them to leave but nervously blurted out that they could play with us later if they wanted. The girls figured out that we were actually there to play and never came back.
Thinking back, the situation was quite humorous. However, the "volleyball players" at North Avenue beach are obnoxious and I hopefully won't have to go there again. It was funny to see the male/female interaction and to witness people trying so hard to impress others.
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