LOCAL NOTES : Smith, Stoklos to Skip Seal Beach Volleyball Tournament

Two-time defending champions Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos will skip the Seal Beach Open pro beach volleyball championships to compete in a tournament in Almeria, Spain, Stoklos said Tuesday.

Smith and Stoklos will be among 24 teams representing 14 countries at the Olympic Year ’92 championships Aug. 12-16. The Seal Beach tournament is scheduled Aug. 14-16.

The Spain tournament’s $250,000 purse is a record for a beach event, and more than double what Seal Beach is offering.

Stoklos said he and Smith think competing in the Spain tournament will help promote the sport as a possible Olympic event in the future.

“It’s important that we go to Spain,” Stoklos said. “I was sad to see that it (beach volleyball) wasn’t an Olympic demonstration sport this year.

“This will be the first time that (IOC president) Juan Antonio Samaranch will see a beach match. Sinjin and I have a goal to make this an Olympic sport.”

Also competing for the United States will be Newport Beach’s Steve Timmons and Los Angeles’ Steve Obradovich, and Laguna Beach’s Scott Fortune and Bryan Ivie of Manhattan Beach. Timmons, Ivie and Fortune are currently playing in the Olympics.

Smith and Stoklos have won Seal Beach four of the past seven years. The last two days of this year’s tournament will be televised live by NBC.

“Missing an NBC event will hurt us in the United States,” Stoklos said, “but we have to put all that aside. This tournament (in Spain) is a big step for volleyball.”

Smith and Stoklos have struggled with wrist and shoulder injuries this season, winning only two early-season tournaments. San Clemente’s Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes have won the last 12 in a row.