olumbia Doubles Volleyball Association was founded by Tom Nielsen in 1988. Tom became an active Beach Volleyball player in Santa Cruz, California in 1983. At the time California was the Mecca for Beach Volleyball. Tom moved from California to Maryland in 1985 to complete his degree at the University of MD. In the late 1980's there was an increase in interest in outdoor volleyball in the DC, Balitmore area.

There were a few outdoor tournaments but they were always booked in advance and turning players away. It was time for a tournment with unlimited capacity to be as big as it could be. This was the founding premise of CDVA. By not restricting the growth of the tournament, CDVA grew leaps and bounds always setting up more nets and finding larger sites. The core of the Association's following came from Deerfield Run Community Center in Laurel, MD.

The Inner Circle of Volunteers, Diane Abood, Jill Pflug, Jeff Maynard, Keith Whitelock, Mike Miller, Pat Duggan, Sharon Baummer and Eugene Yee were all instrumental in spreading the message of CDVA. The first tournament was held at Centennial Park in Columbia, MD on May 20, 1988 The event was an overnight success. There was no build up period. We became big from day one. "The Classic " 1988 had a record 20 nets on the first day and 14 on the second. This was unprecedented in the Washington area. Never had there been so large a doubles tournament.

With so much enthusiasm and support from the players we were motivated to run more events. By 1991 CASH DAYS had a record 65 nets being used and by 1993, CASH DAYS had our all time record 72 nets being used.

REFLECTION FOR 2000 SEASON :

CASH DAYS: In the rainy summer of 2000 we got a break in the weather for our Saturday. Sunday however, brought heavy rains at noon which lasted until 4:00. At 2:00 we called a rain delay in order to move all the courts and start fresh when and if the rain eased up. We moved courts all around and play continued until 7:30PM with C-A Erik Zak/ Sonja Davidson vs Bill Jones/Karen Jones being the final match of the tournament..

CDVA'S 'LAST CHANCE:

2000 tournament was held at the BULL RUN "Special Events Center" in Centreville Virginia. The site contains lots of woods, deer and a river (Cub Run). Players were very impressed with this new site, courtside parking, space between courts, ample flat space for high quality courts.

Players say that they liked this site better than the other Bull Run site. We were rewarded after a long rainy season with the most perfect weather imaginable. Players enjoyed camping at the campground with cool temperatures and low humidity for a good refreshing nights sleep.