Got some complaints about Nationals? Well there certainly seem to be plenty of them floating around (i.e. high entry fee, one shirt for all matches, meaningless pool play on the Friday, lack of a beer garden, low prize money, reffing own matches, quality of referees, etc.). Certainly enough to write a lengthy blog or two about.

But, believe it or not, this blog is dedicated to all that was good about the weekend.

The End

Just joking! There were actually several positives about the weekend if you kept your eyes and ears open!

1) Location, location, location - Center court was set up right in the heart of where the action is, rather than around the bend where there isn't as much traffic.

2) DJ Mike x 10 - It was his tenth year doing what he does best - blaring out some quality tunes, mixed with the perfect dose of sound bites and humorous comments. Hope he signs on for another ten years.

3) Chips off the old block - The sport has officially been around long enough to see the sons and daughters of Canadian Volleyball legends play for National titles. May, Pischke, Saxton, Humana, to name a few. Great to see the next generation embrace beach volleyball too!

4) New faces making noise - Some new names were turning heads this weekend - including mine! Ben Saxton and Matty Z to name a couple. See my follow-up blog about these two.

5) Best seats on the Beach - The Brent Kern VIP lounge (presented by Overkill), was the envy of everybody who wasn't granted access. Located at courtside and equipped with lounge chairs and couches, this privileged area quickly became a hit with those seeking shelter from the rain or sun, or just looking to bask in the spotlight of sitting in the best seat on the beach.

6) E.R. - Headed by Dr. Doug, the medical tent provided their usual high level of medical support to all athletes. Take my word for it, we are lucky to have this type of service, where the care is better than most international events that we attend.

7) Size matters - You have to admit, there is something pretty impressive about looking across the beach at a sea of volleyball like the one we had this past weekend. How many courts were there in use - close to 100?? Wow.

8) Rain or Shine - Some tournaments are just plain too hot, or too cold, or all about the wind, or raining the whole time. At this tournament, the weather kept changing from day to day, or even hour to hour! In fact, it seemed like we got the perfect amount of pretty much every element Mother Nature has in her arsenal - the elements that make beach volleyball the challenging sport that it is meant to be - rain, sun, hot, cold, wind, and of course, sand!

9) Good attitude, Mom and Dad! - I think there is something nice to be said about the appropriate level of support and the positive approach to spectating that I noticed from most of the beach volleyball parents out there. Sure there are a few exceptions, but I don't foresee any hockey style brawls between parents and referees or between parents of opposing teams any time soon. Let's continue to keep the sport fun for the kids by placing less pressure on performance and keeping structure to a minimum. The sport is unique in that it's more meaningful for young players to figure things out on their own, and we can only do that when we let them play without the constant buzz of useless sideline instruction from parents and coaches. For the most part, this sport has that figured out.... for now.

10) Volleyball Junkies - you know who you are! And if you took the time to do a 180 degree scan of the beach during the last day of competition, you would have seen a gathering of the top junkies of them all, including Ahren and I, right in the center of it. There is something addictive about this sport, but unlike most addictions, this one needs no intervention.