Circuit Maker

Member Paul Raudkepp shares how beach volleyball shaped his life.

In the 1930s, sunshine and a laid-back lifestyle drew many Americans to the beaches of California, where communities began to form around a sandy adaptation of a popular indoor game.

Beach volleyball became a favorite pastime. It later turned competitive, then went global.

Member Paul Raudkepp started playing half a century later, in the late 1980s, when the game was really taking off in Australia.

“I played indoor volleyball in high school, and then was fortunate enough to be selected for the university team,” he says. “My coach was an American guy who lived out of his car. He introduced a bunch of us to beach volleyball. After I finished my studies, I decided to pursue it full-time. I didn’t want to work. I wanted to play beach volleyball and travel the world.”

Raudkepp joined a professional circuit in Australia, playing up to 12 tournaments a year, and was among the country’s top 10 players. He and some teammates even traveled to the sport’s spiritual homeland of Southern California to test their skills against the best players in the United States.

When the pro tour collapsed in 2001, he and his English girlfriend (now wife) Claire decided to move to Japan. Raudkepp soon unearthed Japan’s own professional beach volleyball scene.
“Kugenuma, near Enoshima, and Hiratsuka were big places for the game,” he recalls. “I was able to get in, and everyone was very supportive of me playing with them.”

While Raudkepp had the backing of his fellow players, support from some of the bigger organized events was not so forthcoming.

“They didn’t want me to play initially,” he says. “I wasn’t Japanese, and they were concerned. At the time, beach volleyball in Japan was largely a promotional outlet for the big indoor players. I think there were worries about some guy coming in who no one knows. And he’s a beach player, while these indoor players don’t really play beach. So it took me a couple of years to break in.”

Raudkepp began touring the country, competing in around 10 tournaments per season.

“I got to see a lot of Japan through beach volleyball,” he says. “We’d play down in Fukuoka, Ibaraki, Okayama—all these different locations. It was certainly a great way to get a better understanding of Japanese culture.”

Though his pro days are over, Raudkepp occasionally makes the one-hour trek from Meguro back to his old haunt in Hiratsuka for friendly weekend matches.

He can also be found playing the indoor variety at the Club.

“We have a great bunch of high school kids—like 20 or 30—who come and join us,” Raudkepp says. “It’s really been reinvigorating to have this kind of volleyball group at the Club.”