Randy Stoklos
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
BornDecember 13, 1960 (1960-12-13) (age 63)
HometownPacific Palisades, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
College / UniversityUniversity of California, Los Angeles

Randy Stoklos (born December 13, 1960) is a retired American beach volleyball player.[1] He is the first player to earn $1 million playing competitive beach volleyball.[2] He is a five-time winner of the prestigious Manhattan Open.[3]

Stoklos played college volleyball at UCLA and left early to focus on beach volleyball.[1] He won his first Manhattan Open partnering with Jim Menges in 1981.[4] He then went on to dominate the sport with partner Sinjin Smith in the 1980s and early 1990s.[4]

Stoklos has 122 career wins, which ranks him third of all time.[1] He was selected as MVP of the AVP in 1988, 1989, and 1991.[1] He was selected as the Best Setter in 1989.[1] He retired in 1997, having amassed almost $2 million in prize money in his career.[1]

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.[5]

Hall of Fame

For his achievements and pioneering role in the sport, Stoklos was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1999.[4] In 2008, he was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.[6] In 2015, he was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.[2]

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.[7] The pair also appeared in the 1990 film Side Out as Rollo Vincent (Stoklos) and Billy Cross (Smith).[8]

Awards

  • 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

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Randy Stoklos". Beach Volleyball Database. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame announces the class of 2015". Troy, Michigan: Cision PRWeb. April 1, 2015. Archived from the original on November 28, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Men's United States Manhattan Beach Tournament Summary". Beach Volleyball Database. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Randy Stoklos". Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  5. ↑ Murray, Jim (May 7, 1992). "His Job Is a Day at Beach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 25, 2023. (subscription required)
  6. ↑ "Randy Stoklos". International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  7. ↑ Manu (May 28, 2018). "Kings of the Beach". Games Nostalgia. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Side Out (1990)". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2023.


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