Photo gallery from the Dinosaur tournament, “So much fun,” “Super kick-back”

Last weekend’s 26th-annual Dinosaur tournament in Hawai’i was perhaps the best yet.

Organizer David Chaikin amped up the player benefits, feeding the players courtesy of Duke’s Kau’ai, and even providing fire dancers for entertainment. The tournament also added more player opportunities, with a single-elimination 100s bracket for older teams.

For our tournament recap, click here.

First-time Dinosaur player Lucas Yoder, the USC and AVP standout, enjoyed his first Dino experience.

“The location is unbeatable, the beach volleyball community, I’m so grateful to be a part of it,” Yoder said. “It’s so much fun to be out here in Kau’ai.”

John Hyden, perhaps the ultimate Dinosaur competitor at age 47, is also a first-time participant.

“I love it. It’s super-kickback, it’s fun to watch the horse and buggy teams take on two pretty-good age 40 teams,” Hyden said. “It’s a different style.

“First time I served a ball, it went right into the net, and I thought, ‘This court’s huge. It takes a bit just to get the ball over that net, it’s so far.’ And my first serve of the match, the ball hit the tape and trickled over, and the guy just caught the ball, and threw it back to his partner.

“So I’m just learning as we go, because I forgot everything. But it’s a great tournament, well run, super-kickback, and everyone’s just super-nice here.

Hyden played with 43-year-old Jaemin Ragsdale from San Clemente, California, and they finishing third, earning the dubious responsibility of officiating the final.

“And hey, I could be the first old-guy ringer, ever, in this tournament,” Hyden said. “Usually it’s the young guy that’s the ringer, but I’m the old guy ringer.”

I managed to endure the hardship of covering the event in 75-degree weather and offer the following photo gallery. Click on any image to view it full size. The complete gallery of 1300+ photos is posted on VBshots.com.