CBVA Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame to induct three new members at Hermosa Beach Community Center
Bob Clem, right, watches teammate Ron Lang go for the kill during the 1970 Manhattan Beach Open. Photos courtesy of CBVA
When beach volleyball legend Bob Clem was tearing up the sand courts in the 1970s, there were no bleachers full of fans and teams could only score when serving the ball.
The sports has since switched to rally scoring where a point is awarded after each serve and has become one of the most popular of the Olympic Games. Yet Clem feels the biggest difference in beach volleyball has come at the conclusion of each tournament.
“The biggest change since my era was money,” Clem said. “My mother always said ‘Why are you spending so much time playing volleyball? It will never make you a dime.’ She was right. I played before the money came. But I wouldn’t change a thing. Life’s lessons in pure competition are rewarding in themselves. Competing and learning to win is priceless.”
Clem joins Barbra Fontana and Jose Loiola as the newest members of the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame when, in conjunction with the Hermosa Beach Historical Society, its 4th annual induction ceremony takes place Friday.
Past, current and future stars of beach volleyball will be honored at the festivities that begin at 7 p.m. at the theater of the Hermosa Beach Community Center. A social gathering follows in the adjacent Hall of Fame center at approximately 8:30 p.m. with live entertainment along with food and beverages available for purchase.
The CBVA will also honor legend Larry Rundle and current AVP stars Kerri Walsh Jennings and Sean Rosenthal. Guest speakers include Jim Menges, Linda Hanley and Jon Lee.
Also recognized will be today’s up and coming greats, including 2014 NCAA Beach Volleyball Champions Sara Hughes and Kirby Burnham of USC, the CBVA’s top ranked players from each rating class and the CBVA Cal Cup Youth State Champions. Tickets are $10 per person and available online at cbva.com.
Founded in 1992, the CBVA Hall of Fame roster has now reached 78 members.
Bob Clem – Clem won nine championships from 1968-77, his first coming with partner Gene Pflueger at the Marine Street tournament in 1969.
“Being selected to the Hall of Fame is awesome and humbling at the same time,” Clem said. “To be recognized by the sport and the people who got the ball rolling is fantastic. I loved the game itself. The various characters that played and the competition taught me so much.”
Teaming with Ron Lang in 1970, Clem won the San Diego Open and the following year he won five titles, four with partner Larry Rundle.
Clem and Rundle won the Rosecrans, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach and Manhattan Beach Opens. Clem capped off the season winning the Will Rogers State Beach championship with Ron Von Hagen.
Clem, like most who have accomplished the feat, said winning the Manhattan Beach Open was the highlight of his career.
“That weekend started with playing the finals of the prior weeks open on Saturday morning,” Clem recalled “Rags (Larry Rundle) was an inspiration with a positive attitude all weekend. We ended winning two tournaments over the weekend… the finals of Laguna Beach and the Big Kahuna at Manhattan Beach over Ron Von Hagen and Henry Bergman. To top it off, the first man to step foot on the moon took place. Not your average weekend.”
In 1972, Clem captured the Santa Cruz Open with Rundle and the Laguna Beach Open with Matt Gage.
Now retired and living outside Champaign, Ill., Clem’s career in the restaurant business began when he played for San Diego’s Chart House championship indoor volleyball team.
Clem attended San Diego State on a basketball scholarship and also played on its indoor volleyball team and on the beach. He later moved to Santa Monica.
“If you wanted to improve, you had to play against the best,” Clem said. “Will Rogers State Beach and Sorrento is where the best played.”
Manhattan Beach native and Olympian Barbara Fontana, right, wins a joust at the net.
Barbra Fontana – A Manhattan Beach native and 1983 graduate of Mira Costa High School, Fontana was a four-year starter at Stanford where she was an All-League player and team captain as a senior.
Joining the beach volleyball circuit, Fontana won 22 championships including five international titles. She was named the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association’s (WPVA) Best Defensive Player in 1993 and 1994 and served two years as the WPVA’s President succeeding Linda Chisholm in 1993.
“It is such an honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Fontana said. “I really loved playing beach volleyball, have so many great memories of the game and it feels great to be part of this special group of players.”
Fontana won her first career title in 1993 with partner Lori Forsythe when the duo captured the WPVA Coors Light Austin Open
In 1996, Fontana and Linda Hanley won the WPVA Hermosa Beach Open and in 2001, teaming with Elaine Youngs, Fontana won the prestigious AVP Manhattan Beach Open.
Three times Fontana was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. and she was ranked as a top 4 U.S. team for 15 years.
In 2000 Olympics, Fontana and Linda Hanley were the top U.S. women’s team in Atlanta, placing fourth. It was among many highlights of Fontana’s career.
“Being in the Olympics definitely is on top of the list,” Fontana said. “It was an experience of a lifetime. I also really cherish winning the Manhattan Open and my two Queen of the Beach titles.”
Fontana said one match in particular comes to mind when she reflects on her career.
“Definitely winning the match to qualify for the Atlanta Olympics,” Fontana said. “We had to play a domestic qualifier tournament and were down a couple of points in a must win match. We came back to win it and secured our Olympic birth. It was an awesome victory and a great accomplishment for Linda Hanley and me.”
Fontana later became a successful coach. In 2012, she coached Jenn Kropp and Whitney Pavlik to seven tournament titles and a No. 1 ranking on the AVP Tour. She was also a Specialty Coach of Jen Kessy and April Ross, silver medalists at the London Olympic Games.
Along with fellow Hall of Famers Holly McPeak and Eric Fonoimoana, Fontana coaches up-and-coming girls in Elite Beach Volleyball.
Fontana is also an indoor college volleyball commentator for ESPN3 and an indoor high school volleyball commentator for Time Warner Cable.
Jose Loiola’s powerful swing helped the Brazilian win 55 career titles.
Jose Loiola – Also a Manhattan Beach resident, Loiola recorded 55 championships including titles in eight consecutive years (1995-2002).
The Brazilian won 35 AVP events and 20 on the FIVB Tour and was a 2000 Olympian, finishing ninth with Emanuel Rego.
Among Loiola’s wins are the 1997 King of the Beach, 1999 World Championships, 2001 Goodwill Games. He won Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach Opens in 1995 with Adam Johnson and both tournaments in 2000 with Rego.
Loiola’s four AVP Offensive Player of the Year awards are unsurpassed and was the first player to be selected AVP Rookie of the Year (1993) and later MVP (1997).
His first title, an indoor tournament in Washington D.C. in 1995, marked the first time an AVP event was won by foreign-born players, as he claimed the title with Eduardo Bacil. In 2001 the FIVB chose Loiola and Rego as one of the two Best Beach Volleyball Teams of the ’90s.
CBVA Honors – Men and women recognized for their top rankings for the 2014 CBVA season will be Jorge Martinez and Sophie Asprey (AAA), Andrew Brown and Jennifer Henderson (AA), Anthony Evegan and Amber Walker (A) and Tyler Miller, the top ranked male in the B division.
Boys team winning Cal Cup Youth State Championships included Gabriel Dyer/Aaron Phan (12U), Dane Johnson/Ethan Smith (14U), Gage Worsley/Kyle Skinner (16U) and T.J. DeFalco/Parsa Rezvani (18U).
Girls teams capturing State titles included Ashley McManus/Kylie Pries (12U), Lindsey Sparks/Abby Van Winkle (14U), Emma Smith/Sammy Slater (16U) and Abril Bustamante/Skylar Caputo (18U).
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