10A • April 15, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Chamber unveils volleyball tourney directors
A ‘great start for a new
tradition’ in Seaside
By Eve Marx
For Seaside Signal
Deng Thepharat was in
Seaside mid-0arch to intro-
duce himselI to members oI
the Seaside &hamber oI &om-
merce. One oI three new di-
rectors oI the Seaside Beach
Volleyball Tournament, he
hopes to bring more stream-
lined play, more teams, more
dates and more age groups to
the event.
Thepharat even told cham-
ber members that new smart-
phone technology can provide
hours oI Iree time Ior compet-
itors ² time that can be spent
browsing, dining or shopping
in Seaside.
“<ou’ll be able to ¿nd out
when you play, where you’ll
play and against who,” Co-Di-
rector PT Thilavanh said.
“$ll this will be in the palm
oI your smartphone, your tab-
let or your laptop. You’ll be
able to tell your Iriends and
Iamily when you’re playing
so they can cheer you on. .”
Laos to Seaside
Thilavanh and Thep-
harat have been Iriends since
childhood. They came Irom
the same small village in Laos
to the Paci¿c 1orthwest as
child reIugees during the war
in Vietnam.
“Our sponsor was Irom
Seaside, so that’s how we
got here,” Thepharat said.
“We played volleyball in our
village and when we got to
Seaside, we played volleyball
here.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Competitors dig into the sand at a previous tournament.
SUBMITTED PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Deng Thepharat, Mike Griffin and PT Thilavanh.
A chamber welcome
“I have to say their enthusiasm is
infectious,” Cyndi Mudge of the Seaside
Chamber of Commerce. “Every time we
talk to them they are so passionate about
growing the juniors division.”
Mudge said the chamber isn’t antic-
ipating growing the registration past
1,500 teams, but is working to improve
In partnership with Iellow
volleyball enthusiast 0ike
*riI¿n, these three are the new
1W$SBad Boys Open Vol-
leyball tournament directors
Ior the th annual Seaside
Chamber Beach Volleyball
event $ug. 12-1.
1W$S and Bad Boys Open
Volleyball are two Portland
groups operated by Thepharat,
Thilavanh and *riI¿n, active
the players’ experience, meaning more
play time, and a digital format to make
things easier for the players.
“We’ll have bags and prizes and we
want to make sure the players feel well
taken care of and are more free to shop
downtown and visit local restaurants,”
Mudge said.
members oI the volleyball
community and Iormer play-
ers at the Seaside tournament.
Last year 1,0 teams com-
peted on 1 courts.
The Seaside Chamber has
hosted the event Ior three de-
cades.
Funding charities
$n all-charity event, Iunds
have been raised to bene¿t the
Children’s Cancer $ssocia-
tion, Wounded Warrior Proj-
ect, Big Brothers Big Sisters
Columbia 1W and Doern-
becher Children’s Hospital,
among other charities.
Thilavanh, an inIormation
technology proIessional at
1ike World Headquarters in
Beaverton, said the tourna-
ment is an asset to Seaside
because it brings people out
to enjoy what the community
has to oIIer.
“It’s a tradition Ior many
people and a great start oI
new one, not to mention the
revenues it generates Ior local
businesses,” he said.
Thepharat, a proIessional
soItware developer, said he
and his partners put in their
bid to direct the tournament
because they believed they
could improve the game over-
all.
“We’re introducing music
and we are addressing our pet
peeve that the tournaments be
run on time,” Thepharat said.
“In some tournaments you
don’t play Ior hours. We’ve
also added an extra day and
more Ior juniors.”
0ike *riI¿n, Iounder oI
Bad Boys Open Volleyball,
which got its start in 2000 and
a police oI¿cer Ior 20 years in
Washington County in Bea-
verton, said he met Thepharat
and Thilavanh when they
were practically youngsters
and playing in his tournament.
“I’ve been playing the
Seaside tournament since
1 or ’0,” *riI¿n said.
“It’s a tradition Ior a lot oI
people. PT, Deng and I threw
our names in the hat when we
Iound out the chamber was
looking Ior new directors.
1othing against the guys
who ran it beIore ² they’re
great guys ² but we’ve got
some new ideas we’d like to
see happen.”
*riI¿n said he’s real-
ly excited to be part oI this
tournament. “Volleyball is a
big part oI my liIe, just as it
is PT and Deng’s. I’ve made
a ton oI Iriends through the
volleyball community. We
know it’s a big venture to
put on the th annual tour-
nament. There will be high
expectations and we hope we
do a good enough job that ev-
erybody will be happy. We’re
ready Ior the challenge.”
Registration is now open
Ior the summer tournament
at seasidebeachvolleyball.
com.
8nicycles Once you learn, you never Iorget how
Unicycles from Page 1A
Physical education teach-
er Brian Sigler, who has been
with the school district about
27 years, pitched the idea last
summer to Seaside Heights
Elementary School Principal
Sande Brown, who was sup-
portive. The school got 10
unicycles and Sigler acquired
an additional ¿ve.
With the cycles in hand,
Sigler introduced the activity
¿rst- to ¿Ith-graders at Sea-
side Heights Elementary be-
Iore moving on to *earhart
Elementary. Sigler eventually
wants all the elementary-aged
students to get unicycle ex-
perience in their physical ed-
ucation class – although that
would require more unicy-
cles. However, “this has been
a really nice start,” he said,
adding he wished he intro-
duced the activity earlier.
“We’ve got some kids that
have gotten really excited
about unicycles,” he said.
Club forms
Sigler rode a unicycle as a
hobby Ior a couple years start-
ing in Iourth grade. When he
started teaching the activity at
Seaside Heights, he had not
ridden in 0 years, but he Ieels
his background still made it
easy to give demonstrations
and instruct the students in the
basics.
“,t is a liIetime skill ²
once you learn, you really do
not Iorget,” he said.
The unit at *earhart El-
ementary School concluded
the week oI $pril . However,
Sigler received so much pos-
itive Ieedback Irom students
he Ielt compelled to contin-
ue their opportunity to learn
and practice. 2n $pril 12, he
started a unicycling club Ior
all ¿Ith-graders in the district.
The club is meeting Tues-
days at Seaside Heights Ele-
mentary throughout the end
oI the school year, and will
pick back up Ior the 201-17
school year.
In his classes, Sigler most-
ly Iocused on the basics oI
traditional cycling ² how to
mount a unicycle, balance and
turn leIt and right. He had the
students use the wall to start
and then partner with others
until they were comIortable
riding on their own.
Within the club, Sigler
Ieels he might be able to in-
BRIAN SIGLER/SUBMITTED PHOTO
Fifth-grader Cara Foust supports Megan Hornbeck as she rides a unicycle during a physical education class at Gearhart Elementary School. The fifth-graders
recently finished a five-week unit on unicycling under the instruction of teacher Brian Sigler.
troduce additional, perIor-
mance-type skills. He hopes
the students can participate
in a parade Ior )ourth oI -uly
or Moin students Irom another
club in Lake Oswego to par-
take in the parade at the Port-
land 5ose )estival.
Fun, excitement
Seeing students’ perse-
verance transIorm into the
heightened selI-esteem that
accompanies learning a new
skill is especially rewarding
to Sigler.
When he started to teach
unicycling at the schools,
a couple students admitted
they did not even know how
to ride bicycles. They were
particularly
apprehensive
about trying out unicycles,
but within time, they picked
up the skill and the impact
oI their accomplishment was
evident.
They were very satis¿ed
when they realized, despite
their initial apprehension,
“they can accomplish so
much more than even they
believed,” Sigler said.
JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP
Instructor Brian Sigler answers questions
from students as he repairs a unicycle.
“$ll oI the kids sort oI ben-
e¿ted so much Irom a con¿-
dence standpoint and knowing
they’re able to do a lot more
than maybe they thought they
could,” Sigler said. “I’ve seen
kids that have come so Iar.”
II he can acquire enough
JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP
Jayden Goodding, right, and Kierra Gastelum, left, demonstrate unicycle
maneuvers at Gearhart Elementary School.
equipment, especially cycles
with smaller wheels, Sigler
would like to open the uni-
cycle club to all elementary
school students. He already
has several younger students
interested.
“They’re always asking,
‘When do we get to start?’”
he said.
Some oI the student are
trying to get their own unicy-
cles, requesting them Ior holi-
days and birthdays.
In addition to providing
a con¿dence boost and new
passion, the activity also
widens the world oI ¿tness
Ior students. 0ost enMoy it so
much, they don’t even realize
it is a workout alternative.
“They’re Must having Iun,”
Sigler said. “)or me, it’s been
a really exciting unit.”