IT'S WHERE THE SAND MEETS THE STIR-CRAZY : INDOOR BEACH `VOLLEYBARS' GROW POPULAR.

Byline: Chris Carola Associated Press 

On a chilly autumn night, the cars begin pulling up to a row of old warehouses tucked between a back street and a busy interstate. In ones and twos, people in athletic clothing walk through a lighted door and onto the beach.

Well, not exactly a beach, but three sand volleyball courts in a former cigarette and coffee warehouse. For sand volleyball players, life can be a beach, even if there's three feet of snow outside and the thermometer reads 10-below.

At Albany's Planet Volleyball, the growing popularity of indoor sand volleyball as an antidote the cold-weather blahs is evidenced by the swarm of people in their 20s and 30s bumping, setting and spiking their way through an evening. Afterward, they move to the bar to have a few beers.

``What you can do here is almost feel like you're outside on the sand,'' said Sue Wolfson, a social worker from Albany. ``You're not hibernating like a bear all winter.''

Planet Volleyball, which opened last winter, is one of a growing number of ``volleybars'' - sports facilities with indoor sand volleyball courts, bars and restaurants.

USA Volleyball, the sport's governing body, estimates there's 100 volleyball centers in the nation that have at least one indoor sand court, plus another dozen or so that offer only sand courts. Most are in the Northeast or Midwest, where harsh winters are the norm and cabin fever remedies are always welcome.

``People want to get out, and they want to exercise during the winter. It's tough to do it outside in Albany, N.Y.,'' said beach volleyball gold medalist Kent Steffes.

The sport got a big boost from television exposure during the Olympics, where the beach volleyball competition was played before capacity crowds. Watching Americans Karch Kiraly and Steffes win the sport's first gold medal spurred a new interest in the sand game.

``They're getting a taste of it,'' said Steve Butler, a computer technician who plays on the indoor sand at Planet Volleyball to keep sharp for summer beach tournaments. ``They saw Karch Kiraly playing doubles and here they are.''

A chance to meet and mingle with others and the impending start of another long and cold winter are other factors driving indoor sand volleyball's appeal.

``Some of these places are great scenes,'' Steffes said. ``But that's beach volleyball. There's always been a social undertow to it. It's not just a game.''

Rochester's Hot Shots, started five years ago and the first facility of its kind in the Northeast, has six indoor sand courts and eight outdoor courts. Five thousand people play on 450 teams, and on any given winter night about 500 people jam the place, diving around in the sand and bellying up to the bar afterward.

``You can always run into somebody you know,'' Hot Shots owner J.B. Shares said. ``They feel they can get a workout and take advantage of the social atmosphere.''

The social aspect of the game isn't lost on organizers. Many sand leagues require each team to have at least two female players, ensuring a mixing of sexes not normally found in other recreational sports such as softball or basketball.

``After you play volleyball with someone, you really know their personality,'' Plant Volleyball manager Dawn Brown said. ``It's a lot like golf. You get to see how they handle the pressure, whether they stay positive when they're down.''

Despite its growing popularity, the indoor sand game isn't being embraced everywhere. A facility in Syracuse closed after little more than a year in business, as did another in New Jersey. A Hot Shots in Parma, Ohio, near Cleveland, closed earlier this year because the town wouldn't ease its alcohol ban, Shares said.

``It's tough to go into a place and create enthusiasm for volleyball if the enthusiasm for the sport isn't already there,'' he said.

Indoor sand volleyball centers, however, appear to have a bright future. Shares says he's looking into opening indoor beach courts in Buffalo, Chicago and Dublin, Ireland.

Wisconsin, better known for the NFL's Green Bay Packers and the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, has become a hotbed of indoor sand volleyball.

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Photo

Photo: Geoff Mohos, left, of Burden Lake, N.Y., and Jason Walters of Poestenkill, N.Y., dig the outdoor scene while indoors at Planet Volleyball in Albany, N.Y.

Associated Press