North Beach, new indoor sand volleyball court, opens in Mt. Sinai
It took 36 eighteen-wheeler dump trucks to deliver all the sand needed to create eight indoor beach volleyball courts at the new North Beach Volleyball venue that opened last month in Mt. Sinai.
Sand, palm trees, surf boards, beach tchotchkes — North Beach Volleyball has imported everything but the ocean’s waves to recreate the vibe of Long Island’s outdoor summer beach volleyball leagues. The courts fill a warehouse-sized facility that used to be a Sky Zone Trampoline Park, allowing players to keep the momentum going over the inhospitable winter months.
“This has been my dream since the beginning,” says co-owner Joe Strining, who started the Long Island Volleyball Association with 18 teams competing in a summer league at Cedar Beach in Babylon in 1998. North Beach will offer recreation and competitive league play, clinics, open play for pickup games, after-school options, birthday parties, corporate events, court rentals, Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties and Sweet 16s. “We might even have a wedding here — I’m serious,” Strining says. With so many coed beach volleyball teams, romances are bound to flourish, he says.
North Beach has a picnic-tables-and-umbrellas seating area with an area for live music and a pub-style bar that will serve flatbreads and wraps and, of course, Montauk Beer as well as frozen pina coladas and daiquiris. “We wanted to create a bar scene where we could drink and eat like we do at Cedar Beach. It’s a very social sport; the idea is to come down and have some fun,” Strining says. Adds business partner Valda Pinezic: “We hope people will hang out and relax after their games.” The third North Beach partner is Keith Burt.
North Beach Volleyball is the second beach volleyball court facility on Long Island; Endless Summer opened with two sand volleyball courts seven years ago in Oceanside. Endless Summer plans to open another location, this one in Bay Shore with three more courts, by the beginning of 2023, says owner Robert Phillips.
Long Island can accommodate multiple locations because in the summer, hundreds of teams compete outdoors between Cedar Beach, Jones Beach, Robert Moses State Park, Long Beach and beaches on Suffolk County’s East End, Phillips says.
Long Island Volleyball Association, for instance, now has 1,300 summer teams playing between Jones Beach, Robert Moses and Cedar Beach, Strining says. North Beach already has 70 teams booked for fall league play, and two tournaments set for October and November weekends, Strining says. It plans to create its own celebratory special events — such as Fourth of July in December, he says.
“I think it’s fabulous,” Judy DiFranco, a 60-plus-year-old paralegal from Mt. Sinai says of North Beach opening near her home. Previously, she drove to Oceanside to play on Friday nights. “I kept saying to people, ‘We need to bring something like this to Suffolk County,’” she says. She’s captain of her team — called the Wave Crashers — and they’ve already signed up to play six-person coed at North Beach on Tuesday nights.
League play is $700 for a six-person coed team (two women must be on court at all times) for 10 weeks; $600 for teams of four for 10 weeks, and $275 for a doubles team for nine weeks, Pinezic says. Court rental will be $100 for 90 minutes, Strining says. Prices for parties, for instance, will depend on the length of the event and menu, he says.
Being able to play on sand over the winter instead of on wood floors at gyms is an advantage, says DiFranco’s teammate Brian Langley, 53, of Commack, who works in finance for a travel insurance company. “It’s as good as playing on the beach — except for the wind,” which, he adds, “is a good thing.”
Diana Chong, 38, a teacher’s assistant and Varsity volleyball coach in the Longwood School District, also sees the lack of weather issues including rain as a plus for her players — she coaches the Suffolk County SWAT beach volleyball team for boys and girls ages 8 to 18. “The wind makes a big difference in your game,” she says. The indoor courts will help the players focus on honing their skills of bumping, setting, spiking and serving during the winter so they can be more competitive in the summer, she says.
“The fact that it’s in our backyard right now is super exciting,” Chong says. “We’re just really thrilled we can play year-round now.”
It took 36 eighteen-wheeler dump trucks to deliver all the sand needed to create eight indoor beach volleyball courts at the new North Beach Volleyball venue that opened last month in Mt. Sinai.
Sand, palm trees, surf boards, beach tchotchkes — North Beach Volleyball has imported everything but the ocean’s waves to recreate the vibe of Long Island’s outdoor summer beach volleyball leagues. The courts fill a warehouse-sized facility that used to be a Sky Zone Trampoline Park, allowing players to keep the momentum going over the inhospitable winter months.
“This has been my dream since the beginning,” says co-owner Joe Strining, who started the Long Island Volleyball Association with 18 teams competing in a summer league at Cedar Beach in Babylon in 1998. North Beach will offer recreation and competitive league play, clinics, open play for pickup games, after-school options, birthday parties, corporate events, court rentals, Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties and Sweet 16s. “We might even have a wedding here — I’m serious,” Strining says. With so many coed beach volleyball teams, romances are bound to flourish, he says.
BRINGING SUMMER INSIDE
North Beach has a picnic-tables-and-umbrellas seating area with an area for live music and a pub-style bar that will serve flatbreads and wraps and, of course, Montauk Beer as well as frozen pina coladas and daiquiris. “We wanted to create a bar scene where we could drink and eat like we do at Cedar Beach. It’s a very social sport; the idea is to come down and have some fun,” Strining says. Adds business partner Valda Pinezic: “We hope people will hang out and relax after their games.” The third North Beach partner is Keith Burt.
North Beach Volleyball
WHEN | WHERE Now open at 269 Route 25A, Mt. Sinai.
INFO 516-253-5559, northbeachli.com
People hangout after playing volleyball at North Beach, an indoor sand volleyball court in Mt. Sinai. Credit: Brittainy Newman
North Beach Volleyball is the second beach volleyball court facility on Long Island; Endless Summer opened with two sand volleyball courts seven years ago in Oceanside. Endless Summer plans to open another location, this one in Bay Shore with three more courts, by the beginning of 2023, says owner Robert Phillips.
Long Island can accommodate multiple locations because in the summer, hundreds of teams compete outdoors between Cedar Beach, Jones Beach, Robert Moses State Park, Long Beach and beaches on Suffolk County’s East End, Phillips says.
Long Island Volleyball Association, for instance, now has 1,300 summer teams playing between Jones Beach, Robert Moses and Cedar Beach, Strining says. North Beach already has 70 teams booked for fall league play, and two tournaments set for October and November weekends, Strining says. It plans to create its own celebratory special events — such as Fourth of July in December, he says.
SAND, SANS WEATHER
“I think it’s fabulous,” Judy DiFranco, a 60-plus-year-old paralegal from Mt. Sinai says of North Beach opening near her home. Previously, she drove to Oceanside to play on Friday nights. “I kept saying to people, ‘We need to bring something like this to Suffolk County,’” she says. She’s captain of her team — called the Wave Crashers — and they’ve already signed up to play six-person coed at North Beach on Tuesday nights.
North Beach brings the summer sand and fun indoors. Credit: Brittainy Newman
League play is $700 for a six-person coed team (two women must be on court at all times) for 10 weeks; $600 for teams of four for 10 weeks, and $275 for a doubles team for nine weeks, Pinezic says. Court rental will be $100 for 90 minutes, Strining says. Prices for parties, for instance, will depend on the length of the event and menu, he says.
Being able to play on sand over the winter instead of on wood floors at gyms is an advantage, says DiFranco’s teammate Brian Langley, 53, of Commack, who works in finance for a travel insurance company. “It’s as good as playing on the beach — except for the wind,” which, he adds, “is a good thing.”
Diana Chong, 38, a teacher’s assistant and Varsity volleyball coach in the Longwood School District, also sees the lack of weather issues including rain as a plus for her players — she coaches the Suffolk County SWAT beach volleyball team for boys and girls ages 8 to 18. “The wind makes a big difference in your game,” she says. The indoor courts will help the players focus on honing their skills of bumping, setting, spiking and serving during the winter so they can be more competitive in the summer, she says.
“The fact that it’s in our backyard right now is super exciting,” Chong says. “We’re just really thrilled we can play year-round now.”
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
