HERMOSA BEACH, Cali. (July 23, 2024) - The 31st AAU Hermosa Beach National Championships, the longest running and premier junior beach volleyball program in the country, spent seven days last week in Hermosa Beach, CA, conducting competition and awarding medals. The beachfront city, located seven miles south of LAX, has become the beach volleyball equivalent to baseball’s famed Williamsport, Pennsylvania, host of the Little League World Series. 
 
The week kicked off on Friday, July 12th, with AAU Beach and Beach Nation Volleyball (Hermosa Beach, CA) combining to run a 70 player clinic and education session anchored by top collegiate coaches from across the country.    
 
Saturday was the start of the Pairs competition, where medals were awarded in six girls and three boys divisions. Official AAU National Championship medals were awarded in each division and presented by City of Hermosa Beach representatives along with past USA volleyball Olympians, including Sinjin Smith, Mike Dodd, Liane Sato and Holly McPeak.  A complete list of results are linked below. 
 
In the 18U girls, Bailey Higgins (Tampa, FL) and Thais Treumann (St. Petersburg, FL) won gold. 
 
Cash Essert (Redondo Beach, CA) and Carter Mirabal (Torrance, CA) prevailed in the Boys 16U.
 
Sunday, Mateo Fuerbringer’s summer of perfection on the sand culminated with his selection as the 2024 AAU Beach Volleyball National Player Of The Year.  Now 15, the 6-4 Fuerbringer (Hermosa Beach, CA) dominated in 2023, with 10 titles in 10 events, highlighted by the unprecedented double at the AAU Nationals in his hometown of Hermosa Beach: Fuerbringer won his own age group (U14) with Elogious Holder, then played up to win the U16 crown with Joaquin Jones. 
 
The AAU Club National Championships started on Tuesday, with the “Open" division title won by MB Sand Blue (Director Patty Dodd), marking the fourth straight year that the Manhattan Beach (CA) powerhouse club has taken home the coveted Dr. Roger J. Goudy Award.  In the “Premiere" division, Stealth Beach Volleyball (Director: Brett O’Keeffe) of Phoenix, AZ won the title. In the “Club" division, The Lab of Denver, CO (Director: Mike Patton) emerged victorious. 
 
Friday, July 19th marked the exclusive AAU Best of the Beach, in which entrants must have won a tournament championship or accumulated enough points in order to qualify.  
 
In Girls 14U, Summer Tukua (Temecula, CA) and Ashlynn Proctor (Coronado, CA) are the AAU Best of the Beach. 
 
In Boys 14U, Christian “KC” Chow (Hermosa Beach, CA) and Christian Steller (Manhattan Beach, CA) are the AAU Best of the Beach.

31st AAU Hermosa Beach National Championships: RESULTS 

* Above image:  Club Directors Patty and Mike Dodd of MB Sand (Manhattan Beach, CA) won the prestigious Dr. Roger J. Goudy Award for the top club team at the 31st AAU Hermosa Beach National Championships.
 
The Amateur Athletic Union, founded in 1888, has a rich history in the development of sports in the United States and the Olympic movement. The AAU first sanctioned Beach Volleyball in 1957 in Manhattan Beach, California. The AAU Beach program, founded in 1994, launched a boom in junior programming for beach volleyball athletes and has anchored its National Championships in Hermosa Beach, CA for the past 30 years.