By Hannah Devlin
This summer, East End Volleyball has set up recreational leagues at the Town of North Hempstead Beach Park (Bar Beach). The league invites players of any level to sign up and play at the beach from now through the end of August.
East End Volleyball Company has been running numerous beach volleyball programs throughout Long Island since 1977. After decades of running programs in other areas, the program introduced leagues at Bar Beach five years ago.
(Photos contributed by East End Volleyball)
On its expansion to the Port Washington area, League Director Richard Heiles said: “We started out at Hampton Bays in 1977 and we’ve expanded around Long Island. We’d been looking for new sites and we knew they had a big beach [at the Town of North Hempstead Beach Park].”
Currently at Bar Beach, East End Volleyball runs Tuesday and Thursday leagues where players are encouraged to come and play in co-ed 6s; the group has access to about 10-11 nets on the beach. As a recreational league, players of any level are welcome. The league is still placing players, and games will be held through the end of August.
Unfortunately, the rocky nature of beaches on the north shore have posed an obstacle for East End Volleyball’s expansion in the past. However, the sand at Bar Beach is not nearly as rough as other north shore beaches, making it a more ideal space for beach volleyball.
Because of this, East End Volleyball has hopes that there will be future development of sand courts off of the beach, as the addition of smooth sand would allow more players to join the league without any discomfort.
In addition to leagues throughout Long Island, East End Volleyball runs tournaments with numerous foundations at their various locations. In the past, there have been charity events like “Volley4Sound,” dedicated to hearing loss awareness, and the annual Ethan Demmers 6s Tournament, aimed to help the Demmers family in their fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This September, East End Volleyball will host “Volleyball XXVI” with the Michelle O’Neill Foundation.
Furthermore, this summer, East End Volleyball announced their partnership with Orlin & Cohen Orthopedic, one of Long Island’s leading orthopedic and sports medicine providers. This collaboration allows players experiencing pain and discomfort access to the Sports Medicine Team. This ensures that all players are provided a safe environment.
If anyone is interested in signing up for the Tuesday or Thursday league, registration is available at https://eevb.net/ .
