Eric Detweiler, The Examiner
2008-07-16 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

Every event on the Toyota Pro Beach East volleyball tour is held oceanside except the stop at Baltimore’s Rash Field.

It’s also the only event that tour organizers have to worry about finding a new home for because of a proposed parking garage.

The tour, currently in its tenth season, stopped in Baltimore for the fourth consecutive year over the weekend, but the future of the Inner Harbor event hinges on the Baltimore Development Corp’s plan to build an underground parking garage with an expanded park on top.

“It’d be a shame because this is pretty nice, but parking is important, too,” said the tour’s all-time winningest player Matt Heath, who placed fourth with partner Matt Henderson on Sunday.

Tournament Director Jim Mason said he’s heard about the plans for the past two years and will once again wait to see if Rash Field will be available when he finalizes next year’s schedule in the fall.

Mason said title-sponsor Toyota wants to keep a tournament in Baltimore, and he will keep the tour’s options open.

“We’re being proactive trying to find another facility as we’re sitting there twiddling our thumbs,” Mason said. “Just in case something goes wrong or if Toyota says, ‘We want to have three tournaments in Baltimore.’ We’re going to find a place to have them.”

Representatives from the Baltimore Development Corp. could not be reached for comment.

The volleyball tour stop, which brings a beach party atmosphere to the Inner Harbor complete with a gigantic inflatable Corona bottle and live music, has become a player-favorite because of its alternative setting.

“You’ve got the city as a backdrop,” Heath said. “You don’t see that too many times when you’re playing volleyball. You have a good time at the ocean, but sometimes you need a change.”

And Mason said it provides a perfect venue for the tour, which continues to grow as a local alternative to the national AVP tour. Also, because of its proximity to BWI-Marshall, the Baltimore event is more player-accessible than its coastal venues. Mason said with a men’s tournament purse of $8,500 and the addition of a women’s tournament this year, the Baltimore event drew its strongest field ever.

“It’s better than the AVP,” said veteran player Ella Vahkidova, who won the inaugural women’s tournament with Holly Reisor in her first Pro Beach East appearance.

Although the tour does not keep attendance records because admission is free to all events, Mason said the crowds this year were bigger than last year.

That means fans can expect the tour to keep Baltimore as a stop, even if it has to get creative.

“We can build a court pretty much anywhere there’s a flat spot,” Mason said. “It’s just a matter of how much work there is, and how much sand we have to bring in.”

eric.detweiler@baltimoreexaminer.com