Published December 10, 2009
By William Mansell
Megan Wallin never saw herself playing volleyball in college or professionally. However the Sarasota native played four years at Michigan State and since 2006 she has been playing professionally for the AVP.
For Wallin, it did not sink in that she was playing professionally until the beginning of 2008. She was competing in her first big AVP tournament, which was in Boulder, Colorado. "We were playing against Misty (May-Treanor) and Carrie Walsh, who are gold medalists (in 2004 and 2008), and we were in center stadium," Wallin said "It was just crowded and crazy and that was the first time it hit me ... ‘this is one of the most unbelievable experiences I'm probably going to have in my life.'"
While Wallin still has a hard time believing how far she has come already, she insists that she is still not finished. Her ambitions are much broader than success in beach volleyball. She wants to make the state of Florida a go-to destination for beach volleyball. "In the state of California beach volleyball is huge there and I just never understood why it wasn't in Florida," Wallin said.
After college, Wallin said many volleyball players who want to play professionally in the U.S., think they have to move to California to continue their playing days. "In Florida, we have just as many beaches, it's just as beautiful and it's warmer here longer," Wallin said. "Why can't this be a dominant state for beach volleyball?"
To help promote the sport and Florida as a prime destination for beach volleyball, Wallin, along with friends Sean Griffin (executive editor) and Lou Eckrich (executive designer) decided to start a beach volleyball publication. SpikeKey magazine published its first issue this year. "I started doing a monthly newsletter and I brought up the idea of a publication to one of my sponsors ... I told them, ‘there really isn't one like this.'"
What sets SpikeKey apart, Wallin said, is that if focuses not just on the professional tournaments. "This is the first magazine that really focused on beach volleyball lifestyle - the type of people that are at the tournaments, the sponsors," Wallin said. She adds that the goal of the magazine is "just to promote myself and promote my sponsors and promote beach volleyball in the state of Florida."
Wallin is also helping to promote her sponsors by sporting a tattoo during many of the tournaments in which she competes. As she begins to work on the 2010 publication, Wallin has a promotion that has other athletes getting inked. "What's new this year is that an advertiser can buy a full-page ad and then brand it on a professional athlete," she said.
The magazine, which publishes once a year, also will be a resource directory for all volleyball. It lists every tour and tournament, not just the AVP. If you would like to read the first edition of SpikeKey magazine you can visit www.spikekey.com for more information. "I think once we start getting better players in Florida, people will start migrating here to play," Wallin said.
Wallin Comes Home During her senior year of high school, Wallin had to make the difficult choice of whether to play basketball or volleyball in college and where she would be playing. "I think it was just that I personally thought I could be a better volleyball athlete than a basketball player," Wallin said. Although it was a big step, Wallin was excited to venture outside of Florida to attend school. "My mom was a really big advocate for us kids to go to school out of state," Wallin explained. "Just to experience something different, which is probably why she wanted us to come back home after we went to college."
After being a team captain and leading the Spartans to three NCAA tournament appearances, Wallin did indeed come home to Sarasota. For the first year after college, Wallin worked for InterShow but volleyball began to linger in her thoughts. "I had never played beach volleyball until after college," Wallin said. After beginning to play, she realized that she more than enjoyed playing beach volleyball; she could revolve her life around it. "Eventually I realized that I could make a living out of this. I really enjoyed the sport then I started traveling and trying out for the AVP tournaments," Wallin said.
On Oct. 17, Wallin came home to the white, sandy beaches of Siesta Key to compete in an AVPNEXT tournament, which was sponsored by EastEnds Volleyball. For Wallin, being home was comfortable and part of her plan. Tournaments like this one are what Wallin hopes will attract more professional beach volleyball players to Florida and to expand the sport's popularity. "It was great," said Wallin, who, along with teammate Chara Harris (who is a biology teacher in Venice), finished second in the tournament. "It was freezing and windy yesterday, but we still had a good time."
After being on the road for several months, Wallin is looking forward to taking a break. "I've been traveling every weekend for the last three or four months," she said. "I'm going to start coaching more and start working on the 2010 publication." Although she plans to take a much-needed break from volleyball, Wallin appreciates what the sport has done for her to this point in her life. "For me it paid for me to go to college, which more importantly gave me an education," Wallin said. "The experiences that I received during my college career, and now what with my living, being a professional athlete and publishing a magazine revolving around the beach volleyball lifestyle ... it's basically my career, it's where I make my money and it's my passion."
