George Stepanof, ‘godfather of beach volleyball,’ dies at 84

George Stepanof wasn’t the founding father of beach volleyball.

But he wrote the original rule book and helped build the foundation of the once regional recreation that has become an intercollegiate and Olympic sport.

“The love of beach volleyball was his passion,” son Tom said Wednesday afternoon. “It wasn’t just that he was competitive as a player, which he was. He loved the game and spent much of his life promoting and helping build the sport.”

George Stepanof died Feb. 8 at the age of 84.

“George was the godfather of beach volleyball,” said Steve Upp, who for years assisted Stepanof promoting local tournaments at Ocean Beach and South Mission Beach while supplying and maintaining the required equipment for the courts.

“Not only did he write the rule book, he designed the rating system for seeding amateur players, which is also still used to this day,” said Upp.

Stepanof designed and built the trophies for his annual schedule of eight local tournaments. He also was a founding organizer of the Mexico Classic at Estero Beach, which once drew a record 839 two-person teams.

He had promoted beach volleyball tournaments for more than 50 years when he retired from his official duties four years ago.

Stepanof was elected to the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1992. He continued his leading role in the sport for another 25 years.

Stepanof was also a leading San Diegan away from the sand.

He retired as a battalion chief from the San Diego Fire Department after 34 years. He was also a pioneer in the fire department’s emergency medical and hazmat operations.

Born to a military family in Hawaii, Stepanof arrived in San Diego in 1946 and started playing beach volleyball in 1955 — six years after the first official history of the sport.

All three of his sons played beach volleyball as do four of Stepanof’s five grandchildren. Granddaughter Camille played collegiately for the University of California and has a AAA amateur rating.

“Dad definitely helped promote the sport,” said son Scott. “He had his hand in everything, including playing. He was an amazing guy. Everyone in the sport knew and respected him. My brothers and I were his built-in work crew.”

At some point, all three of Stepanof’s sons also teamed with their dad in tournaments.

As the author of the original rule book, the senior Stepanof knew how to take advantage of those rules.

“He wrote the rules to say the ball was in play if it hit the out-of-bounds lines,” said Steve. “He used that as a player. He’d always say ‘it doesn’t count unless it hits the line.’ And he owned the lines. He knew how to play the game he loved.”

Said Tom: “He was very competitive. He’d never let us win. We had to beat him if we could. He had all the shots. His only personal rule, we were we never allowed to hit our dad in the head.”

On a tournament weekend, George Stepanof would prepare the courts, pair teammates by ranking, draw up the pairings, post the results and award the trophies he personally created.

“He would buy the wood, take a Polaroid picture of the winners and put it on the trophy with a division and nameplate,” said Scott.

“He’d work late hours to make sure everything ran right,” said Tom. “He’d waive the entry fee for players who helped him prepare the courts. He had this memory bank of data in his head when it came to pairing players. His tournaments became the yardstick for the sport.”

Stepanof is survived by Arlene, his wife of 63 years and sons Scott, Tom and Rick. Scott and Tom are retired Coronado firefighters. Rick lives in Puerto Rico. Arlene Stepanof said a memorial for her husband will be held later this summer due to current COVID-19 restrictions.

Center is a freelance writer.