Myrtle Beach to dive into beach volleyball tournament

A new youth volleyball tournament is coming to Myrtle Beach this fall.

The Myrtle Beach Open junior beach volleyball tournament will be Sept. 17 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nets will be set up on the north and south sides of Pier 14, and roughly 200 people, including players, are expected to attend. Registration costs $50 per two-person team.

Joe Goodwin, the director of local junior volleyball club MB(2), is organizing the tournament. He said the event will welcome players in age groups from 12 to 18.

He said anywhere from 25 to 50 teams could register for the event.

“We’re kind of in the pioneer days, if you will, of this whole thing,” he said. “You have to start somewhere.”

Myrtle Beach City Council approved a special event permit for the tournament in its Tuesday meeting. The city will not provide in-kind services or public money for the event, and Goodwin said volunteers will prepare the event and clean up afterward.

He also said the tournament will help highlight the sport in the area.

Beach volleyball has recently grown in prominence on local and national levels. Myrtle Beach recently approved three new courts between Eighth and Ninth avenues North. Beach volleyball also became an official National Collegiate Athletic Association sport this year.

Goodwin said he hopes players in the tournament return to their respective towns and spread the word about Myrtle Beach as a volleyball destination.

“We could have well over 100 teams [attend] five to 10 years from now,” he said.

Goodwin organized a similar tournament in June, when 25 teams competed. He said in the future, he’d like to hold a tournament on the sands of Myrtle Beach once a month from April to September, the typical season for beach volleyball.

“That would be my vision,” he said.

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach to dive into beach volleyball tournament."