Kings of Summer

The Rise of Beach Volleyball

By: Travis Mewhirter, Kent Steffes

Narrated by: Robert Restivo

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

It started with a kiss. In 1955, that’s what the best beach volleyball players in the world played for: A kiss from Hollywood star Greta Thyssen. It was a seminal moment for the sport, and the subculture that it soon birthed: Players could ditch the 9-5 work life and instead spend their days on the beach, working odd jobs to make ends meet, doing whatever it took to stay on the sand. 

By 1980, the winners had much more at stake, much more to reach for. Money. By 1990, the top players were making a fortune in winnings, into the millions. In 1996, beach volleyball charged onto the ultimate sporting stage: The Atlanta Olympic Games.

It seemed to be an unstoppable rise, a rapid and smooth ascent from lifestyle sport to a mainstream professional sport. It was anything but. Beach volleyball was a sport built by a rebel culture that had no intention of being tamed. It was volatile, mercurial, a sport run by testosterone-fueled men with an existence that embodied the California lifestyle: Sun, sex, drugs, alcohol, and money. The permanent vacation. Some wanted to keep the sport in America, keep the good times rolling, all to themselves. Others wanted to expand, make it global, push for the biggest spotlight in sport: The Summer Olympics. 

What resulted was a fraught, tension-filled push for beach volleyball to become an Olympic sport. The best two players in the world, Karch Kiraly and Sinjin Smith, former partners and best friends, ultimately became the sport’s biggest rivals. The result was the match of the century, at a sold-out Olympic stadium, an Olympic Medal Ceremony that saw Americans take gold and silver.

The sport of beach volleyball would never be the same.

As told by Kent Steffes, the most dominant player in the history of the game, and Travis Mewhirter, a professional player and the leading authentic voice in beach volleyball, Kings of Summer paints an unforgettable portrait of beach volleyball’s golden era.

©2022 Travis Mewhirter (P)2022 Travis Mewhirter

Excellent history of Beach Volleyball

This is an excellent historical account of the history of beach volleyball and the rise and fall of the AVP tour. I have listened to Travis Merwhirter's podcast Sandcast which turned me on to the book. Travis does a great job recounting the history of beach volleyball from multiple perspectives with a cohesive narrative. I wish Kent Steffes would have narrated the book since he has such a big personality. I realize that also might be self indulgent since Kent is easily considered one of the sports greatest players because of all his winning accomplishments. As one who plays beach volleyball and grew up watching the 'Kings of Summer' when they were broadcast on tv, this book was thoroughly enjoyable and walked me through memory lane of the rise of beach volleyball in the 90's.

Well Structured and Written

Super easy listen. Great story and vivid imagery. Love the structure and pacing. Great job!

Great stories!

It is great to see that these stories are being told and that this material is being covered. there is so much more to tell, and I hope this is the first of many books.

Having been to more than 50 pro Beach events including the 96 Olympics, I always take great offense to the idea that that quarterfinal match in '96 was the greatest match ever played. It wasn't. Not even close. It was a very important match. The bad blood ran very deep. It may have been one of the more passionate matches. but as far as greatest... no way. I listened to the whole thing, but it was very tempting to fast forward through the recap of that 96 match. without the visual, it doesn't make for good listening. It's also completely unnecessary in telling this story. I would much rather have had more stories from the history of beach volleyball then all of the time dedicated to that one match.

I also have to mention that listening to the narrator mispronounce Tim Hovland's name over and over again with like nails on a chalkboard.

That all said, it is still a must listen for any volleyball fan. It's an important book. The stories must be preserved and retold.

I grew up at Southern California beaches in the '70s and early '80s watching these guys practice. The game was different. The rules were different. The court was different. Everything was different. This book does a good job of capturing those differences. The book captures what made the game so great. It also gets into how the changes to make it more TV friendly have made it less entertaining. Never was volleyball more exciting then when a great team went down 12 to 2 in a side out scoring game to 15 and watching them work their way back to win the match. With rally score, that type of suspense and energy no longer exists.

I hope this is the first of many books on beach volleyball. I don't know if the sport will ever come back to what it once was, but books like this will only serve to help.