SURFING SOAPBOX: Beach rituals keep town alive

It’s been called the two-man since 1971 — the two-man volleyball tournament, that is. It takes place every year during the same weekend at Victoria Beach.

It is one of the few remaining Laguna traditions alive today, along with the Brooks Street surfing contest — the world’s oldest, as it has become known to its competitors and crowd favorites.

More importantly, it is the people who make it possible. People who care about carrying on a long-standing Laguna tradition; who care for one another even in the heat of battle.

For that, it is special.

I think of these beaches as communities that year after year bring together a group of people who, over time, have become their own family because of the love they hold for each beach.

To me, this is Laguna.

Not your so-called MTV generation of spoiled kids that we now see on a TV screen and cringe with every new episode.

I must admit that, in the beginning, I was for the show because I thought it was an incredible opportunity for the kids, but somewhere along the way the show has turned into something else.

A joke.

Perhaps I have forgotten what high school was all about. But I can assure you it was never what it is on that show.

Thankfully, we still have the Victoria two-man volleyball tournament and the Brooks Street surfing contest.

We still have generations of Laguna families who continue to participate — whether it’s to compete or just to watch the ones we have passed the torch down to and who now compete.

Selfishly, I suppose Laguna will never be more to me than this — a tribe of people who share a common bond in caring for the integrity of a beach, a town and, more importantly, at the end of the day, one you can call your family.

Peace.