The Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings will return to the South Fork with a crew of pro volleyball athletes this week for Hero Volley, featuring volleyball clinics for adults and kids on Tuesday and a pro-am competition next Thursday.
This is Walsh Jennings’s second summer coming to the South Fork. Her trip here last year included clinics, a tournament, and a visit with trainees in East Hampton Town’s junior lifeguard program. It was here that the three-time gold medalist conceived of Hero Volley, its name inspired by the tournament’s location — Hero Beach Club in Montauk. Walsh Jennings is also a founder of the nonprofit Platform 1440, a youth platform that encourages the next generation of volleyball athletes.
Clinics on Tuesday will take place at Lions Field in Montauk. One for ages 10 to 18 will run from 9 to 11 a.m., with registration and check-in from 8 to 8:30. The adult clinic is from 1 to 3, with check-in from noon to 12:30. For adults, there will be an after-party at Montauk Brewing, which is next to Lions Field.
The clinics are open to players at all levels and to athletes from any sport. While volleyball is the focus, Walsh Jennings and her coaches also teach how “elite athletes approach training, challenges, competition, and personal growth” and emphasize lessons learned through volleyball, such as “effort, resilience, confidence, communication, and mind-set,” that “translate everywhere,” according to an announcement.
The cost is $200; youth scholarships are available for those who live and attend school in the area. A link for scholarship applications can be found at herovolley.com. Registration is at bit.ly/4wf7wtW.
The invitational pro-am tournament will take place from noon to 5 p.m. on the sands near Hero Beach Club. Along with local lifeguards and amateurs, the pros expected to attend are among the best beach volleyball players in the world — Taylor Crabb, Andrew Benesh, Phil Dalhausser, Troy Field, Casey Jennings, Taylor Sander, Brooke Nuneviller, Taryn Brasher, and Kristen Nuss Cruz, all of them competing at the top levels of the sport. There is no cost to attend.
A portion of the proceeds from the Hero Volley events, which include some invite-only experiences on Wednesday, will be donated to the Hampton Lifeguard Association, a nonprofit that supports all kinds of water safety programs on the East End, the town’s Nipper and junior lifeguard programs among them.
