HERMOSA BEACH, California — As the 2023 season bled into 2024, and Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour raged on, the Olympic race winding ever tighter, it did not go unnoticed that perhaps the best team in America was nowhere to be found.
Where, it was frequently wondered, were Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander?
It was easier to point out where they were not, and they were very much not on the entry list for events in Montreal and Paris and India and China. They were not in Doha or Recife or Saquarema or Guadalajara. They were not anywhere near the top of the world or Olympic rankings.
What were they doing?
In a word: Living.
Crabb hit New Zealand for two weeks and a pair of tournaments on the domestic tour there. Played golf with Jason Lochhead rather than slog through and Elite16 qualifier in Doha. Hit the Dino with Steven Cahn, better known as Matsa, rather than a Challenge in Guadalajara.
As for Sander? He snowboarded in Utah. Golfed a good bit. Waiting for the AVP season to roll around after a nine-month off-season. Enjoying life.
“For me, I still love playing volleyball. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten to the point where I’m like ‘Oh man, volleyball,’” the 32-year-old Sander said on SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter. “I still enjoy going out and being challenged every day. Beach volleyball is so hard that I’m still like ‘Man I don’t understand how this is so hard, I do it every day.’ I listened to [Tri Bourne] on your podcast about not going to the Olympics and we were in the same boat, and we were spending a lot of money going to three tournaments, these crappy tournaments where there’s no fans. It’s hard for me, at this stage in my career where we’ve both played in front of thousands and thousands of fans, to go play really good volleyball with no one watching. It’s like, ‘This is crazy!’ Some of the best players in the world, you’re getting a couple hundred people, like the Doha Finals, best players in the world, there’s 50 people in the stands. This is crazy!
“You have to really be self-motivated to go out there and compete with no fans and no adrenaline. You just gotta be good at volleyball. For me, it’s like ‘Dude, this is hard, and you’re spending money and you’re playing for no money. You’re not going to win any money, and you’re playing the best players in the world, so it’s not a walk in the park out…
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