BLANTON ENVISIONS MORE DIVERSE AVP; HE'S ONLY BLACK ON TOUR.

Byline: Kristen Davis Daily News Staff Writer

Dain Blanton, the first African-American on the AVP Tour, is tired of the blond-haired, Southern California-native stereotype of beach volleyball players.

``It'd be nice to have different types of people playing,'' said Blanton, who is the only African-American on tour full-time. ``If one type of person is playing, the sport won't grow as much if everyone's playing it.''

Blanton, who is competing in the $300,000 Miller Lite U.S. Championships at the Hermosa Beach Pier, is doing something to get more minorities interested in the sport.

The Laguna Beach native held a free beach volleyball clinic for nearly 150 children from the Inglewood YMCA last Thursday at North State Beach. He said accessibility and exposure are the keys to changing the face of the sport.

``My goal was to introduce these kids who don't have access to the beach and let them see what the sport is all about. . . . There are not a lot of programs in the inner city or away from the West Coast,'' said Blanton, who attended Pepperdine and led the Waves to a national championship in 1992.

Blanton grew up living one mile from the beach and began playing the sport because his older brother Kurt played. Although Thursday's clinic was his first, Blanton would like to do it regularly at the tour-stop cities.

He visited the children again at the YMCA Thursday. Ed Viramontes, the executive director for the YMCA, said because the children responded to the clinic so well, Blanton is going to host regular clinics during the off-season.

``They were intrigued with (volleyball) and realized they had the abilities, which gives them another avenue to be successful in another arena,'' Viramontes said.

One of his sponsors, TYR Sports, helped fund the program, which provided transportation, lunch and counselors to supervise the children, who ranged in age from 7 to 13. Blanton brought in portable nets that were as low as 5-feet high to accommodate the different heights of the children.

``That was key,'' he said. ``They were able to hit straight down, and once you do that you're hooked.''

Another reason for the program's success was Blanton's easy-going attitude and the accessible approach he took toward the children.``He has a very genuine personality and got down on his knees at their level to work with the kids,'' Viramontes said.

Aside from the clinic, the children will attend the double-elimination tournament this weekend.

Blanton is in his third year on the tour. He and his partner Canyon Ceman, who is from Hermosa Beach, are the fifth-ranked pair on the tour. They earned their first career tournament win last month at the Miller Lite/AVP Hermosa Beach Grand Slam by defeating top ranked Kent Steffes and Jose Loiola in the championship match.

Blanton and Ceman, who had a bye in the first round, won their two matches Friday and play No. 13 Eduardo Bacil and Brian Gatzke at 1 p.m. today.

``There's a sense of relief winning that first one,'' Blanton said. ``It was my dream to win and not many do. You see a lot of top names winning all the time.''

Steffes and Loiola have dominated the tour, winning 11 of the 17 tournaments this season. This weekend's tournament is the third of four Grand Slam events. The four tournaments factor into who qualifies for the World Championships in September.

In addition to Blanton and Ceman's win over Steffes and Loiola in the first Grand Slam last month, they finished fourth in the second Grand Slam in Chicago a few weeks ago.

``We're right on track, Blanton said. ``. . . Since we've done well, there's added pressure and teams are out to get you.''

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Photo: (color) Former Pepperdine star Dain Blanton is the only African-American on the AVP Tour.

AVP Tour