Meet EVP Pro Erin Strang
Erin Strang is a Pro player on the EVP Tour and in the EVP Island Women's events. When she is not tearing up beaches across the US with the EVP she serves as Marketing Director for the Michigan Virtual University. We asked her to give us her story about how she became a beach volleyball pro with the EVP Tour.
The Inception of the Player
I have always loved the sport of volleyball. I started, just like a majority of women volleyball players, in grade 7. That was the time when everyone made the team. They split you up into an “A” team and a “B” team. Even at that age they were splitting talent levels up, I can only imagine how kids deal with that. They might as well have said you are on the “good” team and you are on the “bad” team. I am sure that I went around bragging about being on the “A” team. “That’s right, on the “A” team baby!” See what affect that has on kids? It can really build or knock the confidence. Apparently it did wonders for my confidence, because I kept on playing. Who knows what ever happened to those “B” team players? They probably got pregnant and had babies by grade 8.
I managed to stay on “A’ teams throughout the years but for different reasons then you would think. I bet your mind is racing now, was she taller then everyone? No, I was about average size. Was she really coordinated? No, I was actually the opposite, I even got my foot caught in the volleyball net one time, don’t ask me what my foot was doing up so high. The reason why I was always on the “A” team was because I was fast. I could run up and down the basketball court way faster then anyone else. There was even a place for me in softball because of my speed. Let me elaborate on the softball a bit, my team would be playing, as I was sitting on the bench, our pitcher would get up and crank a ball to get to first base and then the coach would call for a pinch runner. Now I had never heard of a pinch runner but apparently they have them because that is what I was. I would switch places with the pitcher and all I had to do was run around and steal bases until I made it home. So I don’t know if that really counts for playing softball, but I will pretend. Besides sports, I was in the Band; oh yeah, that’s right. Might have been a little bit on the not cool side but I didn’t care what people thought, I was playing my saxophone and yes, going to band camp. Now get your mind out of the gutter! My band camp was nothing like the band camp on American Pie!
My high school years were pretty busy; I was being pulled in a hundred directions. In sports you knew never to be late or you will be running laps or even worse suicides. But for band, I always pushed the limits on time. One of those times that I was cutting it close the director said something to me that I would never forget. He asked me why I was wasting my time— sports wouldn’t get me anywhere. Well there is only one thing that I can say about that, you won’t find me walking around tooting on my saxophone these days! I will guarantee however that you will see me with a volleyball in hand.
The Next Level
After high school I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, the only thing that I was sure of was that I wanted to play some volleyball. My high school was a class “B” school (about 200 in graduating class). We weren’t state champs or anything fun like that, and who knew that colleges don’t come looking around corn fields for 5’8 left side hitters? I thought that if I was good enough to play in college someone would find me. To my surprise, no one came knocking at my door.
I say no one, but that is a lie, a near-by community college came by and offered me a scholarship to play. That was pretty exciting even if it wasn’t anything huge, it did plan out the next two years of my life. This is where I got my first taste of the beach. My coach had brought the team out to the beach a couple of times to train in the sand. Even though it was conditioning I didn’t care, what could be better then running around in the sun and playing volleyball? It was that coach that brought me to a beach tournament in Cleveland. Music, sand, volleyball and beer, I was in LOVE! We played coed, didn’t win a game, but I was amazed that these tournaments even existed.
After those two years, I found myself again unsure of my direction. With three coaches in two years at a community college, there was really no help on next steps. I was debating on what to do next, my associates degree read, “General Studies,” and I wasn’t sure that was going to get me anywhere. Did I want to continue with my college? Did I want to get a job? I had no idea. That is until I got a call from a division II school in the Upper Peninsula. Apparently this coach from one of the teams in my conference had told the coach that I was a good all around “utility” player. I didn’t really know how to feel about being called that, but it got me another two years to play so I took it.
August 1, I drove six hours for the start of preseason. I had never really driven that far before, about three hours into my travels a nice police officer decided he would give me a break and pull me over to ask how my journey was going. He warned me about my lead foot but apparently I was a slow learner. I say this because another two and a half hours into the trip a second police officer stopped me. I don’t think it was a good thing having my license and registration all ready in the passenger seat. You think that he would have been impressed with my promptness, he might not have been impressed but I did get his autograph attached to a $150 ticket.
Back to preseason, yes preseason, whoever invented that? Wake up early, practice, eat lunch, practice, eat dinner, complain about not really being able to go up and down stairs because your legs feel like they are going to fall off, and then complain about how you can’t even lift your arms up to wash your hair cause those hurt too. I make it out to be the worst thing ever but let me tell you, I think that I was pretty lucky. The coach had a huge house on the water where my teammates and I stayed. After the afternoon practice, the coach’s wife would make a delicious dinner. This wasn’t just any dinner, this woman could cook! I knew I had found a wonderful place, the only thing I wasn’t so sure about was having the coach’s daughter on the team.
It should just be a rule that a coach should not have anyone related to them on the team. Who did this girl think she was? If you ask me she was a stuck up little snot. That is until I got to know her; it is a good thing that first impressions last only as long as you let them. Coach’s daughter turned into being my best friend, and it was her and her family that kept me from being homesick and seasoned my love for the game, indoor and out.
Coach actually made us start training outside in the sand. He had played in the sand and thought it was the best for learning how to see the court. He greatly encouraged his players to start playing in beach tournaments in the off-season. It really opened up my eyes, that my volleyball career could last past college.
Off to the Beach
After graduating from college with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing, I was ready to set the world on fire. At least I thought so. Job application after job application, doesn’t anyone want to hire a good worker like me? I was a bit frustrated. What was their problem anyway? My resume has no spelling errors, and if I could just get an interview these companies could see how great I was! Why weren’t they calling? I spent that summer in the corn fields. I was an IPM scout, which is the person who inspects the fields for disease and insects (a degree hard at work). I was still posting my resume all over, even posted a few on the bathroom walls…and still no calls.
Then my big break, I went to my cousins wedding were I ran into an old family friend. He asked me what I was doing these days, I told him; the next thing I remember he was telling my mother to have me call him when I was out of my comatose stage. Comatose stage, no, with so much time in-between the wedding and the reception waiting at a bar to pass the time, not to mention the open bar once I got to the reception, come on I was perfectly coherent. Luckily my mother remembered the next day. I called, there was a position open that he knew about in an office in Lansing, Michigan, so I went.
Not knowing anyone in Lansing, I tried to get out and find some volleyball courts. I went up to the local YMCA and asked if I could play. Turns out the person I asked was short a player that night so I got to jump on the court. I was able to exchange numbers and play again. One of the times I subbed with the team, we were warming up and one of the girls came dashing in jumping one foot out of her sweatpants with sand flying everywhere. I was a bit confused and asked her why she was full of sand. She started in with a story about a wonderful place called Marshall Park. Apparently there were sand courts in the area, and all you had to do was show up on a sunny day and someone would let you play. This was great, I wouldn’t have to organize anything, and I could just go when I felt like it, hop on a court and play some volleyball. Needless to say, it has been my home ever since! The people are great, you can be at any level and there will always be someone there happy to help you learn the game.
Tournament Time
I had transitioned from indoor to outdoor, from six to two; I thought I was ready to play at tournament time. I called up an old teammate from school to see if she wanted to play. We got out there on that sunny Saturday morning at the crack of dawn ready to play. The first game, we were in the “A” division and fairly confident. We were college players and all! First game out, there were two older women not in the best of shape. This was going to be an easy game. It was an easy game…for them, we got our buts kicked! We weren’t really sure how these woman were working us all over the court, and why, for that matter, are they staying on just one side? My partner and I were switching sides depending on who served! We didn’t know any better. I was slowly figuring out that this was not the same game it was indoors.
The players at Marshall Park kept on teaching me the game, and I really didn’t play in too many tournaments. What was the point if I didn’t even really know the game? I would head out to the courts and most of the time there weren’t even enough girls, so the guys were nice enough to let me play.
The next summer rolled on by, I had played a bit at Marshall Park, and I thought maybe I was ready to play. I talked to a friend who knew this girl that needed a partner. I had never seen this girl before, didn’t even really have a description of what she looked like but I called her up anyway, and we signed up for a tournament. I was going to try this again. I arrived at the tournament at least an hour before it started, but I just wanted to make sure I was at the right place at the right time and could actually find my partner. I sat at the registration table and watched as everyone arrived wondering if the next person to check in was my partner. Finally, after what felt like the longest wait ever, I met up with my partner and we were ready to play.
First serve right in-between us, the second the same. Thank god for pool play, otherwise it would have been a short day. We didn’t win too many but at least we realized that we had potential to play together. We trained the whole season long and it paid off. The last tournament of the summer was at the same place that the first one was but this time, we won. It was a great end to a wonderful summer of learning, playing, and don’t forget the drinking.
Finding the Extreme
I was starting to get the hang of this game; I continued to play in tournaments from Michigan coast to coast. I even played in a few tournaments in the grass, now whoever came up with that idea is really crazy! I just kept hearing about these great tournaments that everyone was talking about, this tour called the Extreme Volleyball Professionals (EVP). I had to go check it out. I called up another friend from college who had been playing on the beach just as long as she had been walking. She is one of the most natural players I have ever seen. She agreed to come down and play in this EVP tournament with me and see what it was all about. We get to the beach in Chicago and were amazed. This is really how you see the sport on TV, and we were here to play! The beach was decorated with huge blow-up’s of Corona bottles and volleyballs. There was a center stage set up with a play-by-play announcer. The Pro players were all in their Jerseys and had already started to play. My heart started pounding away, this was exciting stuff! I don’t remember much about individual games, I just know that after a long hard day with wind being a bit of a factor, my partner and I won the EVP Pro Am. It was time to hit the Cactus to celebrate.
About a month later, there was another EVP tournament in Chicago. I really couldn’t miss out on one of these tournaments, they were so well run, the people were nice, and it was great competition. This time I partnered up with the girl that I learned the sport with. I told her how much fun the events were and that we had to play. She came on down and we ended up wining the EVP Pro Am tournament, this was my second win.
At this time I had two different questions for myself,”Am I sand bagging in the Pro Am?” and, if so, “Am I good enough to move up to the Pro division?” It just seemed like there was such a difference between the competition level in the Pro Am vs. the Pro. I had now been watching these girls play for the past couple of years and they were good!
Pro Am to Pro
Then came the call, after placing fairly well in a number of tournaments the director of the EVP advised me to move up to the Pro division. I was a bit nervous but I was up for the challenge. Unfortunately, I had a very busy summer that year and only made it to one tournament. This tournament was not like any other. The play started and so did the rain. It poured all day long, the ball was heavy and you could not even see when you looked up. The only thing that you could see was the water in your eyes, and how silly your partner looked with her mascara all down her face. Still the same we tried our hardest, but I would be lying if I told you I was happy to be playing that day.
I did not loose sight of my goal, and I kept on practicing. I started playing any day that there was sun and even some days when there wasn’t. People from Michigan have an extreme disadvantage; the days with sun are few and far between so the days to train outdoors is limited. A couple of girls from the area found a place in Canada that had indoor sand courts, so we started training there. It really was not even close to the same feeling as training in the sun by the beach, we wouldn’t choose sides based on the wind or the sun, we picked sides based on what side the heated lamp was on.
Houston Grand Prix
Someone must have been looking over me the day that I received another call from the tournament director asking if I would like to participate in the Houston Grand Prix tournament. I think I actually confirmed before I even asked the dates of the tournament. I was so excited, unsure and lacking a bit of confidence, but excited. I talked with a number of my mentors out at Marshall Park and they were all so proud and confident that I could hold my own. I was not so sure. Had they seen these girls play before?
Was this real? Was I really going to Houston to play volleyball? You mean I would have to leave the 45 degree weather of Michigan, pack a bikini and head to a place were temperatures were in the high 80’s? It was a tough decision, but I figured someone had to do it, and who was I to let down the fans. I arrived in Houston the night before the tournament; I had no idea what to expect. I had never really met any of the other girls that were playing. Would they think I was good enough, or would they wonder why in the world I was here? So much was on my mind, but I told myself to relax and everything would come together.
The tournament did not start until 4:00pm the next day. Unfortunately I was so excited, I was up and around at 7:30am ready to go. Having nothing really to do, I went down to the site of the venue. There were security guards all around; this place was practically on lock-down. With the right credentials, I found my way to the spot. Surrounded by asphalt was a sand island. Nothing was set-up, but all I cared about was running over to put my feet in the sand. There has always been something about that first step in the sand that makes me relax a bit.
I felt like I was a little kid with ADD or something. There was so much going on. I helped put borders around the court, set-up the tents, and rake the sand (that is when it was my turn). Then we had to wait for some barrels to help hold up the net. Apparently when you have a court on asphalt setting a net up is not the easiest of things. While we were waiting for the proper equipment to set things up, I wandered around to see all of the amazing things. We were placed in the middle of the race track, by the beer tent, and across the way from the grand stand. Also in close range were all the different paddocks for the cars. Talk about an expensive sport, all I ever have to worry about is a volleyball and a couple of well fitting bikinis, these guys have all kinds of wheels, computer stuff and gadgets galore. Time flew by, and the next thing I knew the other girls were arriving.
I recognized almost every one of them from earlier tournaments. I hadn’t played against them; I just remember watching them all play and being amazed at their skill level. The tournament director came over and announced the schedule, I met my partner, and it was time to play. It was a bit overwhelming; all you could hear was the sound of cars ripping past, the EVP sound system, and the music from the grand stand. Needless to say it was hard to concentrate, some of the girls even played with ear plugs!
It was a three day tournament, I am not going to tell you my placing, it is not important. It is like the old saying goes, “It is not whether you win or lose but how you play the game”. Who ever listened to that crap anyway? It sure as hell matters who won! At least at the moment, man what an awful feeling. Even if you felt like you didn’t have the energy to even finish the game, after it is over you feel like you could have played harder, you could play another tournament right then, and you can beat everyone out there! Too bad that burst doesn’t always kick in before the tournament is done!
Give it time and the outcome of the game really doesn’t matter anymore, for me anyway. I do however know some people that can tell you the outcome of games that happened years ago. For me, I have drunk those memories away. Now I only remember those tournaments that I have won (There are fewer to remember that way). Hopefully time will add to those memories.