SHORE MAGAZINE-THE HOTTEST SPORTS ON THE BEACH THIS SUMMER

By: Rob Earnshaw

​May, 16 2011

There’s nothing quite like spending a day at the beach building sandcastles, reading a good book or taking a leisurely dip in the lake.

Lake Michigan has so much more to offer its visitors, especially those with a competitive nature. Take volleyball, a sport with beach roots dating back to California in the 1920s. It continues to grow in popularity on the sands of Lake Michigan, especially Chicago, where beach volleyball is almost as iconic as Al Capone, Michael Jordan and the Blues. Twelve hundred teams participate in the Chicago Sport and Social Club summer leagues at North Avenue, Oak Street and Montrose beaches. Jason Erkes, CSSC president, says most of the teams are made up of young professionals looking to take advantage of the beach, lake and Chicago skyline. “There is no scenic backdrop like Chicago’s North Avenue beach,” he says.

Here is a rundown of the most popular sports you can expect to see on Lake Michigan this summer.

Beach Tennis

Volleyball may be one of the oldest sports on the shores of Lake Michigan, but tennis—yes, tennis—is the hottest.

The sport is billed as a mash-up of beach volleyball, tennis and badminton. You and your doubles partner, using paddles, volley a tennis ball over a net to the opponents without letting the ball hit the sand.

“We started beach tennis last year and it was pretty popular, so we added more leagues this year,” Erkes says.

The CSSC says anyone can play beach tennis, from inexperienced badminton hacks to seasoned tennis pros.

Frisbee

If you want to combine the endurance of soccer and the aerial passing skills of football, then Ultimate Frisbee is the beach sport to seek out. Ultimate is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech Frisbee on a field similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. It’s played in over forty countries and at Montrose Beach Tuesday and Thursday nights.

“Each team in the Tuesday night league plays two hour-long games per night,” says Ultimate Chicago spokesman Zach Grossman. “Sprinting for two hours in the sand is exhausting, so game play

ends up being more relaxed than what you might find on a turf field. We get a mix of players that are looking to keep themselves in shape or get into better shape and others who enjoy the more laid-back feeling the beach imposes on the game.”

Every July there is a beach tournament, Sandblast, at Montrose that draws about eight hundred participants from around the country. “Our beach leagues are limited to ninety people per session (six teams of fifteen people) and it always fills up,” Grossman says.

The Tuesday night league is split into two six-week sessions and is open to everyone, while the Thursday night league is geared towards beginners.

Surfing

Yes, you can surf on the Great Lakes. “Surfing is our main, driving passion here,” says Ryan Gerard, owner of Third Coast Surf Shops in New Buffalo and St. Joseph. Surfing is typically done at Chicago’s Montrose and 57th St. beaches and Whihala Beach in Whiting. Third Coast provides surfing rentals, lessons and gear for local surfers.

“We do more surfboard sales than anyone in the Midwest,” Gerard says. “We’ve got a unique niche in the surfing market in the Great Lakes region.”

Most questions regarding Great Lakes surfing are answered on Third Coast’s website. How big do the waves get? It depends on factors such as wind speed, wind direction, wind duration and the amount of fetch (the length of water the wind is blowing over), and the bottom contours over which the waves are breaking.

Third Coast says that small waves are ideal for learning the basics of surfing—a wave as little as a shin high can be enough to propel a surfer.

Third Coast also offers both group and private surfing lessons.

Stand Up Paddleboarding

“The hottest sport on Lake Michigan now,” says Outpost Sports owner J.V. Peacock.

Stand up paddleboarding, or SUP, has its roots in 1940s Hawaii. Peacock says these oversized surfboards were made so tourists could paddle out to the water in order to take good photos of surfers.

“They are really taking off in popularity for a variety of reasons,” Peacock says. “People are really curious about it.”

Gerard says SUP is similar to kayaking. “It’s really neat, because you don’t need waves to do it. You can do it anywhere there’s a body of water.”

The sport actually offers a better full-body workout than kayaking, if that’s what your intentions are, according to Gerard. “It doesn’t have to be intense by any means,” he says. “It’s a great way to get on the water. It’s easy for most people to do, and after trying it for ten or fifteen minutes most people catch on.”

Skimboarding

This is another fast-growing sport on both U.S. coasts and the Great Lakes region—especially for the younger demographic. “It takes a little bit more dexterity and athleticism,” Gerard says. “It can be hard on the body [when you fall on the sand].”

Sandboarding

This is similar to snowboarding, but trade the snow for sand. The popular spot for this sport is Warren Dunes State Park. “It’s pretty well known throughout the country, and some people fly out from the West Coast just to ride these dunes,” Gerard says.

For Kids

While most of these beach and water sports are geared towards teens and young adults, nobody knows how to have fun at the lake more than children. That’s why Third Coast Surf Shop is now offering Beach Camps for Kids.

The three-day camps for kids ages 8-12 include many activities under the supervision of CPR-certified instructors including surfing, skimboarding, sandboarding, beach soccer, kite flying and

swimming.

Camp sessions run weekly from June 14 to August 25.

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