Kent Steffes

portrait
Kent Steffes
birthday	June 23, 1968
place of birth	Ann Arbor (Michigan), USA
size	2.00 m
partner	1990–1996 Karch Kiraly 1991–1995 Adam Johnson 1997–1998 José Loiola 1998–1999 Mike Whitmarsh 1997–1999 Dain Blanton
successes
1989 - AVP Best Up-and-Coming Player 1996 - Olympic Champion 1996 - AVP Comeback Player of the Year 1996 - AVP Most Valuable Player 1996 - AVP Special Achievement 1997 - 3rd World Championship
(As of September 8, 2011)

Kent Steffes (born June 23, 1968 in Ann Arbor , Michigan ) is a retired American beach volleyball player .

Career

During his time at Palisades High School, California, Kent was named National High School Player of the Year in 1986. In 1988 he decided to study economics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In parallel, he played some tournaments of the American professional series AVP ( Association of Volleyball Professionals ). Already in the first year (1988) he managed a fifth place (Venice Beach - with Rudy Dvorak). A year later the first tournament victory was achieved in Seal Beach (with Jon Stevenson).

In 1990 Steffes played for the first time with his later partner Karch Kiraly , together they won two tournaments. In the following years, Kent changed partners several times (including Tim Hovland, Adam Johnson). But the success only came in connection with Karch Kiraly. From 1991 to 1996 Kent and Karch were the dominant team (76 tournament wins). The coronation was the win in 1996 at the Olympic Games in Atlanta , where beach volleyball was included in the program for the first time.

From 1997, Kent and Karch parted ways. The reason was disagreements about possible back payments by the AVP. Despite these successes, the AVP was in a crisis and in some cases could no longer pay the prize money. Karch Kiraly partially waived prize money, Kent Steffes, however, tried to enforce the not yet granted prize money with lawsuits.

Kent Steffes stayed with AVP anyway and won twelve of 22 tournaments the year one after the Olympics with Brazilian José Loiola . In the same year he won the bronze medal with Dain Blanton at the World Championships in Los Angeles . In 1998 and 1999 Kent Steffes played a few FIVB tournaments with Dain Blanton and Mike Whitmarsh . The best place here was a second place in Espinho (Portugal) with Whitmarsh.

Kent Steffes has won 110 tournaments and an estimated cash prize of US $ 2.5 million in his career. He has not played a tournament since 1999.

In 1994 Kent Steffes starred in an episode of Baywatch (with Tim Hovland, among others). It was episode 10 (99) of the 5th season "I Spike" ("The Midlife Crisis").

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Steffes, Kent
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American beach volleyball player
DATE OF BIRTH	June 23, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ann Arbor