Michelle O'Neill Volleyball Tourney Nets Record Numbers

It’s not as if the Michelle O’Neill Volleyball Tournament wasn’t held on as lovely a day weather-wise, yet the fifteenth annual tournament attracted a record number of volleyball enthusiasts to Long Beach on Saturday.

Some 302 teams on 49 nets, from New York Avenue to Lindell Boulevard beaches, played in the event that is a fundraiser for children with cancer and their families.

“[It] was by far the largest of all our tournaments, packed with unequaled energy and enthusiasm,” said Carol O’Neill, who established the tournament and a foundation in her daughter’s name.

The Long Beach event is already the largest single volleyball tournament on the East Coast, with players, supporters and spectators coming from as far away as California and Puerto Rico.

About the large turnout, O'Neill attributes it to more than the sunny skies and warm weather that day.

“That is a testament to the flavor of the Michelle O'Neill Foundation's event and the community of people in Long Beach,” said O’Neil, whose 24-year-old daughter, Michelle, died of brain cancer in 1996. “People come to enjoy one another, have a last shot at summer, play or watch the games and know that they are helping the kids who need their help.”

Of course, it probably helped that a popular surf competition was in town last week, too. Expert volleyball players from Quicksilver, the company staged the Pro New York surf competition on National Boulevard beach in the days leading up the volleyball tourney, added lots of energy and attention, too, O’Neill said.

“I've always thought of our event as a fundraiser with volleyball as our venue, but it occurred to me at that moment that we are truly a volleyball tournament in every sense of the description,” she noted.  

The tourney’s division of teams allows everyone to choose their skill level: six-man recreational, six-man competitive and four-man competitive. And there were an increasing number of themed-teams, including “naughty nurses” and doctors in hospital gowns.

Winner 4 man competitive - Metropolis

Winner 6 man competitive - Rockaway Remembers

Best team name: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Net

While the tally on the event’s fundraising efforts is still a work in progress, since donations are still coming in, O’Neill is certain that it will be largest to date due to the record-number of teams that participated Saturday.

O’Neill said she is in “awe” of the volunteers who help with the many logistics of the event, and is “very proud” to live in Long Beach, a community “filled with caring people.”

“They have allowed my family and I to honor Michelle's life in a way that truly represents her sunny personality,” she added. “She was fun-loving, very funny, had a great smile and wanted to help others.”