VOLLEYBALL FLASHBACK 1992 • Randy Stoklos
MUSCLE MAN: Randy Stoklos demonstrated a complete game during a 18-year career on the beach. (Photo Peter Brouillet) B
each legend Randy Stoklos was the original combination of power and fi nesse. A towering force at 6-4 (small by today’s “big man” standards), Stoklos was a bruising blocker (the one-armed Kong Block was named in his honor) who possessed a deft setting touch. Despite his setting prowess, thunderous spikes were the trademark of Stoklos’ game.
He teamed with Sinjin Smith in the 1980s to form the world’s most recognizable pair, routinely battling Karch Kiraly/Kent Stef- fes and Tim Hovland/Mike Dodd in tournament fi nals across the country in the golden era of the game when there were 25 domestic pro events per season.
Despite never playing in the Olympics together, Stoklos and Smith won a men’s record 114 tournaments together and were the marquee team of the AVP Tour in the early 1980s and into the 1990s
Stoklos is one of only four American players (men or women) to win more than 120 tournaments. His 122 titles rank behind only Karch Kiraly (148), Smith (139) and Kerri Walsh Jennings (125). He was a colorful character who also answered to several
nicknames during his career, including Stokey, Vanilla Thunder and Greystoke.
Stoklos remains active in volleyball, teaching the game through his various camps and clincs. He recently traveled to Brazil with Smith as guests of the Brazilian Volleyball Federation. The pair played a special exhibition match against Brazil’s Roberto Lopes and Franco Neto on Copacabana Beach in September as part of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games test event. Stoklos and Smith won fi ve FIVB events in Rio during their career and their fame transcended continents in the pre-social media era. Despite being considered the prototypical Southern Califor- nia beach player, the 54-year-old Stoklos feels a strong connec- tion with the Brazilian volleyball culture. He said he expects the 2016 Olympics in Brazil will be the best in the 20-year history of Olympic beach volleyball. He feels both countries have the same appreciation for the sport. “I think why it’s so similar in Southern California to Copaca- bana and Ipanema is that we’re the same people, they’re the same people,” Stoklos says. “We all have the same love.”
— Jon Hastings
74 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
PHOTO: PETER BROUILLET
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