Dos Equis had it all wrong when the beer company cast actor Jonathan Goldsmith for its “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign.
It missed out on Ryan Doherty.
Even amongst a group of peers with circuitous routes into beach volleyball, Dohertyâs path has been exceptionally itinerant. A star pitcher out of the baseball-mad town of Toms River, New Jersey, Doherty threw for Notre Dame in college. He left early, going undrafted but getting scooped up by the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he spent two years in the minor leagues, years filled with long bus rides, pitching well, pitching not so well â- until he got that call from the managerâs office. Doherty was cut.
It was, as rock-bottom moments can often be, a watershed moment for Doherty, as serendipitous as it was crushing.
After couch surfing for a bit in South Carolina, where he was routinely beaten down in beach volleyball by high schoolers, Doherty had made up his mind: He was moving to California, and he was going to play professional beach volleyball.
Since, the 7-foot-1 â- well, 7-foot, a half-inch â- blocker has partnered with Olympians Casey Patterson, Nick Lucena, Todd Rogers and John Hyden. He has beaten Phil Dalhausser. He has represented the United States internationally and domestically, becoming a mainstay on both the AVP and FIVB Tours.
Doherty discusses all of that and a great deal more on this week’s edition of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter.
Mentioned in the show:  Doherty wrote a book, Avatarâs Guide to Beach Volleyball. You can get that on Amazon here:
Where you can find Doherty
Twitter:Â @RyanDVolley
Facebook: Ryan Doherty
If you missed last week’s debut episode of SANDCAST, where we featured the life and career of Tri Bourne, you can catch it here.
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Can’t say enough good things about this… this podcast was great, but really just love that there’s a podcast totally dedicated to talking beach volleyball! Keep up the great work!
Thanks Alison! Glad you enjoyed. We’re looking forward to growing it and seeing where it can go.