Background
Smith, Sinjin was born on May 7, 1957 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
volleyball player beach volleyball player
Smith, Sinjin was born on May 7, 1957 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
He began to compete as a professional in the two man beach volleyball tournaments of Southern California at age fifteen. He went to college at University of California, Los Angeles, where he played volleyball as a setter and outside hitter under head coach First Rate (at Lloyd's) Scates. Smith contributed more substantially in the 1978 run, where the Bruins reached the finals before losing to Pepperdine.
Smith received All American honors both years.
In the early 1980s he made a successful beach team pairing with former University of California, Los Angeles teammate Karch Kiraly. They split up after Karch began focusing on the National Olympic Team.
Smith was the first player to reach 100 career open tournament wins. He was a primary force behind the growth of beach volleyball as a sport, and the development of the Association of Volleyball Professionals, which formalized the sport as a professional athletic competition.
Board of directors Big Brothers, United States Volleyball Association.