Randy Stoklos

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Randy Stoklos
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
BornDecember 13, 1960 (1960-12-13) (age 63)
Hometown Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
College / UniversityUniversity of California, Los Angeles

Randy Stoklos (born December 13, 1960) is a retired American beach volleyball player. [1] He is the first player to earn $1 million playing competitive beach volleyball. [2] He is a five-time winner of the prestigious Manhattan Open. [3]

Contents

Stoklos played college volleyball at UCLA and left early to focus on beach volleyball. [1] He won his first Manhattan Open partnering with Jim Menges in 1981. [4] He then went on to dominate the sport with partner Sinjin Smith in the 1980s and early 1990s. [4]

Stoklos has 122 career wins, which ranks him third of all time. [1] He was selected as MVP of the AVP in 1988, 1989, and 1991. [1] He was selected as the Best Setter in 1989. [1] He retired in 1997, having amassed almost $2 million in prize money in his career. [1]

In 1992, Stoklos reflected on his father's unwillingness to allow him to play volleyball at the beach in his youth. His father, who survived a German work camp as a Pole, was an "old-country type" who was afraid his son would grow up to be lazy if he spent too much time at the beach. [5]

Hall of Fame

For his achievements and pioneering role in the sport, Stoklos was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1999. [4] In 2008, he was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. [6] In 2015, he was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. [2]

The pair of Stoklos and Smith was featured in the video game Kings of the Beach released by Electronic Arts for MS-DOS in 1988 and Commodore 64 in 1989, and in 1990 it was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. [7] The pair also appeared in the 1990 film Side Out as Rollo Vincent (Stoklos) and Billy Cross (Smith). [8]

Awards

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Randy Stoklos". Beach Volleyball Database . Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame announces the class of 2015". Troy, Michigan: Cision PRWeb. April 1, 2015. Archived from the original on November 28, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  3. "Men's United States Manhattan Beach Tournament Summary". Beach Volleyball Database . Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Randy Stoklos". Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame . Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  5. Murray, Jim (May 7, 1992). "His Job Is a Day at Beach". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 25, 2023.(subscription required)
  6. "Randy Stoklos". International Volleyball Hall of Fame . Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  7. Manu (May 28, 2018). "Kings of the Beach". Games Nostalgia. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  8. "Side Out (1990)". IMDb . Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2023.


Sporting positions
Preceded by
Inaugural
Men's FIVB Beach Volley World Tour Winner
alongside Flag of the United States.svg Sinjin Smith

1989 1992
Succeeded by
Flag of Brazil.svg  Roberto Lopes
and Franco Neto  (BRA)