Most students think that summer is the time for no work, backyard BBQ’s and trips to the beach. Two young Nova Scotian men have switched that theory, spending tons of time at the beach yet working their butts off.

The 20 and under beach volleyball partners of Adam Hotchkiss and Scott Townsend are working on their tans and their game. Following a fifth place finish at the 2002 Beach Nationals in Quebec City, the ambitious pair are aiming for a medal finish at the 2003 Junior Beach Volleyball Nationals in Coburg Ontario, August 16-17.

How did these two get started in volleyball? Like most beach players, they grew up on the indoor court. Adam and Scotty are both alumni of the Lakers Volleyball Club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Through their high school years they were both members of Volleyball Nova Scotia provincial teams.

In the summer of 1999, it was a stroke of fortune that brought them together as beach partners. "I was playing with someone else at the time, but he was always off golfing and was more into that than volleyball," Adam says. "I met Scotty and we both enjoyed playing, so we hooked it up."

In the summers of 1999 and 2000 the pair played junior events in Nova Scotia, but had to put their beach dreams on hold for the Canada games in 2001. Scotty, a setter, and Adam, a rightside and youngest member of the team, traveled to London, Ontario as part of Team Nova Scotia.

The summer of 2002 is when their beach games exploded. Adam explains one of their smartest decisions they ever made.

"To put it simply, we got a coach. You can only play so many matches and watch so many games on TV before you stop developing as players. Scotty and I had known Bobby O’Keefe for a few years, having coached our Lakers team. We also knew he was really into the beach. Having that third person to analyze your game and then construct practices to work on those parts of your game was huge. He’s made a hug difference in our games."

With O’Keefe’s guidance, Adam and Scotty played a number of events in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and ended up winning 20 and under provincials. That earned them the chance to compete against Canada’s best up and coming beach players at Nationals in Quebec City.

"This is the make or break year for us", Adam says emphatically. "This year is the chance to see whether we can improve on last year’s play or see whether we’ve peaked as beach players."

Enough about this dynamic duo. What do these two athletes bring to the table (or beach) as players?

Coming off his first year as a member of the AUS winning Dalhousie Tigers men’s volleyball team, Adam (whose nickname is Hooch) is a 6’5" behemoth. His strengths are hitting and blocking. His job on defence is to take away as much of the court as possible, and his job on offence is to hurt the ball. Finishing his second year as a member of the University of Waterloo Warrior, Scotty is a speedy 6’1", certainly earning the nickname of Scooter. His strengths are defence and ball control. Both players drill hard spike serves, and they routinely cause havoc in any serve receive.

Basically it is a case of picking your poison with this team. Either you can serve Scotty who will pass a dime and put the ball down with his finesse, or you can serve Hotchkiss who will go over or around any block with power. As you can see it is not an easy choice for opponents.

Besides their individual strengths on the court, their team strengths are communication and staying composed. Hotchkiss and Scotty stay calm when they are doing well, but also have the confidence to battle back when down in a match. "We don’t see the need to jump up and down and celebrate every point," Hotchkiss declares. "We don’t ride the emotional roller coaster, we just play our game."

Their plans for this summer involve a whole lot of training. They will be out at a beach court every day for two to three hours, and then head to the gym for weight training. The pair also do a lot of swimming to cross train. They will play in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick tournaments, and hope to go to Ontario before Nationals to play some tougher teams.

Before the pair becomes one of Nova Scotia’s greatest volleyball exports, Adam has some pointers for all those little Adam’s and Scotty’s that are aching to play beach volleyball.

Hooch’s Beach Tips

1. Don’t get discouraged when you start playing. Even if you are an awesome indoor player, it takes time to adjust to the beach game. Because it is a different game, the skill set is different.

2. Hit the weights before you play without a shirt (I speak from experience).

3. Wear sunscreen.

Word to live by.