Randy Stoklos
| Randy Stoklos | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | December 13, 1960 (age 65) |
| Hometown | Pacific Palisades, California, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| College / University | University of California, Los Angeles |
Randy Stoklos (born December 13, 1960) is a retired American beach volleyball player. Stoklos is the first player to earn $1 million playing competitive beach volleyball.[1][2] He is a five-time winner of the prestigious Manhattan Open.[3]
Volleyball career
[edit | edit source]Stoklos played college volleyball at UCLA and left early to focus on beach volleyball.[4] He won his first Manhattan Open partnering with Jim Menges in 1981.[5] He then went on to dominate the sport with partner Sinjin Smith in the 1980s and early 1990s.[5]
Stoklos has 122 career wins, which ranks him third of all time.[4] He was selected as MVP of the AVP in 1988, 1989, and 1991.[4] He was selected as the Best Setter in 1989.[4] He retired in 1997, having amassed almost $2 million in prize money in his career.[4]
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.[6]
Hall of Fame
[edit | edit source]For his achievements and pioneering role in the sport, Stoklos was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1999.[5] In 2008, he was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.[7] In 2015, he was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
Popular culture
[edit | edit source]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.[8] The pair also appeared in the 1990 film Side Out as Rollo Vincent (Stoklos) and Billy Cross (Smith).[9]
Awards
[edit | edit source]- AVP Most Valuable Player 1988, 1989, 1991
- AVP Best Setter 1989
- CBVA Hall of Fame 1999
- International Volleyball Hall of Fame 2008
- National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame 2015
References
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