By RYAN DIXON

I grew up walking up and down the boardwalk of Virginia Beach. Every October brings the Neptune Festival back to life after lying dormant from the previous year. The thing every visitor to the festival visits every year is the sand sculpting contest, but the past decade has seen an introduction of something new and exciting. Thanks to this festival, I first played a sport where I couldn’t throw the ball 300 feet but I could get just as dirty and have just as much fun. Beach volleyball has exploded all over the country, and the city of Wilton Manors is no different.

I strolled onto the court around 6 p.m. on Tuesday to find a myriad of players on the single court at Hagen Park. I did see one familiar face that I remember playing with before I moved away from Florida in 2009. Nelson Maldonado, 24 from Fort Lauderdale, was just picking himself out of the sand after a nice dig to save a point and the win. Turns out he plays on every Tuesdays with the guys from Somos.

“I usually come on Tuesdays, but (my friend) Ricardo invited me out to play on Saturdays and that’s when I found out about the other ‘leagues’ that take place”.

Volleyball at the park is the chosen activity that the Latin men from Somos have chosen to fill their week. Somos is a Latin social group for the men in our community, but anyone can come and play. “You can bring your pet”, says Nelson, “even the ones with four legs.” That sort of humor is what makes the go easy games so much fun. Yeah, winning is great, but it’s a great opportunity to meet new people like Guisseppe Quispe. Guisseppe is 25 and is the Group Mediator for Somos. He and Anthony Alexander decided they needed something for the guys to do on a Tuesday and five months ago started this group for their guys to come out and give they’re best shot at a bump, set and spike. Luck for me, they want anyone to come out and play: any gender, and age and any orientation. I found myself flashing back to when I was a varsity player in high school when I was shouting out ‘three touches’ every time my team would just volley the ball back over the net. I realized no one really cared too much about technique; it’s a learning experience for most. I may not be Kerry Walsh, but my team did take both sets I was able to play. There are even talks to start a soccer group on Thursdays when the cooler weather reaches South Florida in November. Looking for a great way to stay fit and have fun? Stop by the court at Hagen Park on pretty much any day of the week to find a few awesome people playing one of the fastest growing amateur and professional sports in the country.

For more information on the Somos guys check them out on Facebook by searching Latinos Salud or by visiting their website at somos  latinossalud.org.