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Ed Whipple Pierpont Open for ALS: Great Volleyball, a Great Time, and a Great Cause

By Ken and Nina Delgado
Posted April 19, 2006

VENTURA, CALIFORNIA - I first heard about the inaugural Ed Whipple Pierpont Open for ALS through a posting by Art Barron on the AVP forum. It was going to take place on April 15th and 16th at San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura and I thought, since we live up the road in Santa Barbara, it might be interesting to see some teams battling for an AVP wildcard spot for the AVP Santa Barbara Open.

My wife got interested because Jeff Minc and Ben Koski, our local Santa Barbara team who play on the AVP, were entered. Our plan was to spend just a few hours at the beach and watch them play. Watching some tournament volleyball sounded like a good way to spend a little time at the beach to satisfy our cravings until the AVP hits Santa Barbara in mid-May. Well, it turned out to be a great time and it was one of those events that when it was over we left with a desire for more and with lots of great memories. And our intention to spend just a few hours there was soon abandoned as we got caught up in the friendliness and the intimacy of the event. (We ended up spending the entire day there and watched Mesko/Allen win a very close contest over Mowrey/Mihalic in the last men's match on Saturday around 7 pm. And of course we decided that we had to come back on Sunday to see the outcome and enjoy some more volleyball.)

Maybe it's something about local tournaments and all the work and dedication that the locals put into making it happen that make you feel connected with everyone.

We met Art Barron, who greeted us with a huge grin, at the event and found out that he was a busy man who was up at dawn getting things ready for the tournament. Fortunately he also seems to have plenty of energy and enthusiasm because not only was he the promoter for the tournament, he was also competing in it.

"Finding sponsors for the event; taking care of permits with the state; working with the AVP in regards to rules and regulation; promoting the tournament to players, community, and friends of Ventura County; advertising the tournament locally in the newspaper as well as other publications like the VC Reporter," were some of the tasks handled in order to operate the inaugural Ed Whipple Pierpont Open said Art Barron. "We also had to revitalize the courts as well as the sand with the help of many local community members: John Moore, John Carman, Marty Harder and Billy Luhrs."

Even with all the teamwork from the many people involved it still was hard to believe that Art was able to juggle all the tournament activities and also compete in the tournament.

"Well as far as balancing the prep and work I had a lot of help. Tournament director Billy Luhrs did an excellent job keeping the tournament going and flowing at a good pace. It was easy for us because I am a player and know what the players want," said Barron. "My motivation for throwing the event was a combination of helping both of the communities I spend most of my time with— Ventura County and beach volleyball players from all over the country."

While it is great for the spectators to see such friendly banter and good humor during the competition, it is a tough business for players on the cusp of the AVP main draw who don't reap the financial rewards (prize money and sponsorships) attained by the top AVP teams. "I like what they got going on the East coast with the Toyota Tour. Medium size events that will cater to more of the regional players as well as up and coming young athletes," said Barron.

The level of competition was quite high and among the teams competing in the event were some AVP teams. "The quality was definitely there, we had a couple of [AVP] main draw teams on both the women's and men's side," said Barron.

While the number of teams in the tournament may not have met the minimum required to grant the winners the automatic wildcard berth into the main draw of the AVP Santa Barbara Open, they certainly are deserving of the wildcards based on the quality of competition. Jill Changaris and Patti Cook won the women's final over Tiffany Rodriquez and Claire Robertson. On the men's side Chad Mowrey and Anthony Mihalic captured the title over Jon Mesko and Billy Allen. Hopefully the AVP decides to award the wildcards since they would be well-deserved.

There was much camaraderie between the players, but even more noticeable, they were so warm and friendly with the fans. There was friendly banter aplenty and everyone was so engaging and easy-going. It was great to see such good sportsmanship and respect between the players, as was evidenced by players (exemplified by Austin Rester) calling a "net" on themselves that no one else had seen.

(After striking up spontaneous conversations throughout the day, Nina ended up with several new "favorite" players to cheer for: Lucas Wisniakowski and Austin Rester (both from Texas); on court comedian Tony Pray and his very serious partner Chris Harger; non-stop color commentator and player Jack Quinn and his intense partner Seth Burnham; and part-time Santa Barbara local David Fischer, who stood out for his "running" dialogue of crisp court communication with his partner Scott Hill. Unfortunately it left Nina in conflict when her new "favorites" competed against each other.)

We struck up a conversation with Ivan Mercer (inadvertently, since I had walked away from my wife and the "husband" standing behind her that she was talking to turned out to be Ivan). After expressing her embarrassment to her "husbands", real and inadvertent, we ended up having a great conversation with Ivan. And this was just one of many conversations we had with people we met at the event and is one of the things that made the day so enjoyable.

But besides all the great competition and the nice feeling of being part of an intimate group, it was also to benefit the ALS Association (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) and it was a very worthwhile endeavor. "The most rewarding aspect was that we raised about $7,000 for ALS," said Barron.

Among the many friendly and gracious people we met for the first time was local photographer John Carman, who donated an award winning action photograph of Brian Lewis (that he shot last year at the AVP Santa Barbara Open) for the silent auction to benefit the ALS Association. (We're happy to say that we can now enjoy this photograph everyday since we had the winning bid.)

It wasn't just the effort of a single individual, but many people from the local community. Though certainly Art was a very visible part of the effort and it isn't often you see a player pause in the middle of his match to tell someone where to find the prize money to present to the women who had just competed in the women's final.

"I just want to thank many of my sponsors on the AVP tour that sponsored the Ed Whipple Pierpont Open event: Home Saving Mortgage, Helen Yunker Realty, Dr. Osland Chiropractic and Monkeybutt Boardshorts" said Barron. "I would like to thank everyone that participated and hope to see them next year at our 2nd Annual Ed Whipple Pierpont Open."

We certainly will be looking forward to next year's Ed Whipple Pierpont Open, for the great volleyball matches, and for the great camaraderie among players and spectators.