1,200 teams from around nation gather for Emerald Coast Volleyball Week on Okaloosa Island

Devon Ravine, Northwest Florida Daily News
·2 min read

OKALOOSA ISLAND — Emerald Coast Volleyball Week kicked off Wednesday at The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island. The annual event will see some 2,000 people competing this year on 1,200 teams, according to event director Mike Minich.

More than 60 volleyball nets have been set up along an approximately 3/4-mile stretch of the beach from the Four Points by Sheraton hotel east to Beasley Park. Minich said the event proved so popular this year that the tournament will also be using beach volleyball nets from at the Fort Walton Beach Recreation Center for one day of tournament play.

Jerusha Pfannenschmidt dives in the sand for a save Wednesday during the first day of play in Emerald Coast Volleyball Week. The series of five tournaments will run through Sunday on the beach at The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island.
Jerusha Pfannenschmidt dives in the sand for a save Wednesday during the first day of play in Emerald Coast Volleyball Week. The series of five tournaments will run through Sunday on the beach at The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island.

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“It’s much bigger than past years,” Minich said. “We opened up registration on Feb. 15 at midnight and when I got up at 7 a.m. we had 200 teams signed up already.”

Minich said the tournament filled up in three days and noted, “We turned a lot of teams away, and I hate doing that.”

Minich said there are about 60 teams on a wait-list hoping to get into the tournament.

The vast majority of players in this year’s event are coming from out-of-state, said Minich, who ticked off a number of large cities: Dallas, New Orleans, Memphis and Atlanta.

Two players jump for the ball Wednesday during the first day of play in Emerald Coast Volleyball Week. The tournament continues through Sunday at The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island.
Two players jump for the ball Wednesday during the first day of play in Emerald Coast Volleyball Week. The tournament continues through Sunday at The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island.

“Were getting more geographically diverse than we have in the past,” said Minich, who noted that this year’s volleyball week has teams from as far away as California and Canada.

“Most of the spectators are people who didn’t get into the tournament,” Minich said. “Even if they don’t get to play, they’re still coming for the experience.”

The event runs through Sunday and consists of five individual tournaments in men’s, women’s and co-ed divisions playing on two-person and four-person teams. The women’s open finals begin at about 2 p.m. Sunday on the courts directly in front of The Boardwalk. The men’s open finals will begin about 3 p.m. and sandwiched in between those matches is the ever-popular costume contest, with a prize of $1,000 this year.

RJ Murdock with Emerald Coast TV will livestream video from the event on the Emerald Coast Volleyball Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Emerald Coast Volleyball Week kicks off on Okaloosa Island