User:Apvb2000/sandbox

Asbury Park Volleyball League (APVB) was born during the summer of 2005 on the 4th avenue beach together with the revival of the city sparked by the LGBT community. At first it was casual play as people gathered and got to know each other, extended circles of friends formed.

Once the summer ended, the same group of folks, led by Gus Cam, founded a more formal league, with the support of then-mayor [Ed Johnson] and the generosity of Father David Stout and. We began promoting the league thru the Yahoo Groups (then as popular as Facebook is today) and local papers, and the first indoor season of Asbury Park Volleyball was in full swing.

Once there was an official organization, the popularity of volleyball on the Asbury beach really took off. The first Asbury Park Beach Volleyball Open was held in 2006 with 20 plus registered teams. In the years that followed, the tourney expanded from six courts to twelve courts and over 250 players by 2016. The tournament then moved to the North Beach due to the popularity of the beach but also the tournament.

The league hosted several indoor-NAGVA-style tournaments as well, bringing teams from many parts of the tri-state area, even as far as Washington DC and Baltimore.

Asbury Park Volleyball also sent two full teams to play in the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago and to several NAGVA tournaments to promote the city as a destination for the LGBT community. The diversity of the group is impressive as well, with players from the US, Asia, Latin America and Europe bantering in Spanish, French, Tagalog, Mandarin, Portuguese and more. Asbury Park Volleyball is a non-profit, all volunteer organisation. In the last five years, APVolleyball has changed from mostly local LGBT-residents to enthusiasts from all over NJ and beyond, LGBT or LGBT-friendly. Today, the group indoors is approximately 45% LGBT, while the annual tournament still attracts a mainly LGBT crowd. The Fall and winter indoor seasons included an advanced league, an intermediate league and a Wednesday night co-ed league.