A Passion for the Game

Many thanks to the people who encouraged me and help with the content and editing.

Part 1

Chapter 1

I was numb thinking about what I was going to do, or should I say what my friend Lisa has talked me into doing. This was still my first season playing on the Professional Volleyball Tour and my partner and myself were still feeling ourselves out and hadn't had much success so far. We've only advanced past the first round once and our last tournament didn't go very well. Tanya, my partner, had a couple years more experience on the tour and was being very patient, but I knew if things stayed the way they were I'd be looking for a new partner next season, if I'm fortunate enough to play again at all. It really wasn't the losing that bothered her so much as the fact that we weren't getting any notice from the press or the promotions department and I think for Tanya she sometimes wanted the attention more than the victories.

She kept saying "Anna Kournikova never won a single tennis tournament, but she made millions in endorsements and is world famous. I would also love to have some product endorsements if only to so cover our expenses."

I can't say I'd mind making some money, but for me I do this because I love to play volleyball. I've been playing since I was 8 years old when my mother and I moved to southern California and my dream was always to play on the professional beach tour. Even though we had lost in my first few tourneys I've been living my dream and have had a blast, but the losing is getting to me because I want to win. I know though that I'm just a rookie and I need to grow before I can really raise my game. The one thing that Tanya and I do have in common though is a love for our fans. So far I've only signed a handful of autographs and most of those were for children who didn't know that I was still a nobody. While I don't need to be Misty May or Kerri Walsh who are followed everywhere they go, it would be nice to at least have the fans know who we were.

Who am I? My name is Carrie Treadwell and I'm 20 years old. Along with playing pro volleyball I also take college courses in my off time and a few correspondence courses during the season. I promised my mother before I joined the tour that I would at least get a BA so that I would have something to fall back on when I can no longer compete. I didn't have quite the volleyball build, which might have been why I struggled to keep up with some of the bigger and stronger women. I was tall like the rest at 5' 10" but although I was in excellent shape I was on the skinny side and sometimes lacked the strength of some of the other players. Also unlike most of the rest of the women I had a chest. I wasn't so much more than a B cup but compared to most of the other women that was large.

My lifelong friend Lisa and I both decided to major in Women's Studies, which is something I thought would be easy, I mean I am a woman after all, but it turns out it's not as easy as I thought it would be. What's worse though is that Lisa is so damn good at it, in fact without her help I probably would've had to drop out, she's so into it that she's basically become a full fledged feminist and preaches it constantly.

You'd think that would conflict with me being on the Beach Volleyball Circuit, but she saw it as a way to raise women's position in the male dominated world of sports. "We need to embrace our womanhood to the max level." she'd said on more than one occasion. "It just makes me sick that in the Middle East woman are forced to obey their husbands every wish, no matter how awful the task may be, not to mention they have to wear those heavy burqas that cover their whole bodies in that awful heat. I can't believe in this day and age that a woman is automatically considered a whore in some parts of the world, if she shows off the slightest bit of skin out in public. Doesn't it make you sick too Carrie?"

"Of course." I would always answer, which was somewhat truthful, I mean I'd hate to wear something like that in 100 degree heat. But to be honest I don't really think about that stuff that much, at least not as much as Lisa does. Usually I'm too busy worrying about the next tournament to think about how the Muslims live. Then just the other day, when the tour arrived in the bay area, Lisa drove up to meet me and have lunch, and during this lunch she decided to compare the plight of the Muslim women to beach volleyball.

"Could you imagine what would happen if your tour ever went to the Middle East?" she began. "Could you imagine the uproar at the thought of women playing sports in nothing but those small bikinis you guys wear? They would probably force you to play in burqas or risk getting arrested."

"Yeah that would suck." I replied as I was eating my salad. "Lucky for us the tour doesn't go there."

"It just blows my mind that the men would be able to play in their usual trunks while the women would have to cover themselves from head to toe. You'd have to run around and chase that ball while wearing those restrictive outfits. Could you imagine how hot and uncomfortable that would be?"

"Yeah that would suck." I repeated.

"Could you imagine playing any kind of sport in those things? You notice those countries never send a woman's team into the World Cup or the Olympics. I know I'm quite sure there was no Iranian team for beach volleyball in the last Summer Olympics, even though most of their country was covered with sand. It just angers me every time I think about it."

"Yeah I can see that." I said glibly. "But what can you do? We don't make the laws there."

"That's unfortunate but true." she agreed. "Unless Mohammed comes down from wherever he is and tells the men that women deserve equal rights nothing over there is going to change. At least you're lucky you get to play in that bikini uniform of yours so you can move around freely in the sand."

"Yeah I'm just so lucky." Actually the one thing I'm not that fond of about the game are the uniforms, personally I think they're too small to play in. My uniform is basically a blue bikini, which is fine I guess, but I don't see why it has to be so tiny. I'm actually one of the few women on the tour who has a more substantial chest, so the small top I wear makes them stand out more and after a few near-mishaps I always fear one of my boobs is going to pop out in the middle of a game. And I always have problems with my bottoms riding up my ass all the time. I mean at times they can be a real pain. If I had my way my top would cover a bit more, something similar to what Brandi Chastain wore when she threw off her jersey after scoring the winning goal in the World Cup (I still can't believe the fuss they made over that in the media, that thing was practically a tank top.) so that I could get better support and not feel as self conscience about my boobs falling out, plus I would make the bottoms more like shorts instead of a bikini, since there's less chance of it riding up on me. Until then though I'm so thrilled to be on the tour that I'll wear a clown outfit as long as I get to keep playing.

"You really do have a nice body Carrie." Lisa complimented. Something she does regularly. "You should be glad you live in a country where you can play a sport like this and wear the proper uniform."

"I'm blessed everyday." I appeased her and then noticed that Tanya had come down and we waved her over to join us.

"Whatchuall talking about." Tanya asked us as she sat down. "Ooo that salad looks good Carrie, I think I'll order one."

"We were just talking about how lucky you are that you don't live in the Middle East and would have to play in burqas." Lisa explained to her.

"Yeah that is cool." Tanya agreed. "I'd hate to have to live there and be married to some ugly brillowhead Arab with an ugly mustache and not be able to do my own thing."

"Yes and you get to wear bikinis here when you play too." Lisa added.

"Yeah too bad Carrie here doesn't really like that part." Tanya told her, which was supposed to be just between us but I guess Tanya didn't know that.

"You don't like that part?" Lisa repeated. "Since when have you not liked your uniform?"

"She says it's a little restrictive on her." Tanya answered for me. "Her bottoms rise up on her a lot and I think sometimes that it slows her down and I know she's always paranoid one of her tits is going to pop out."

"Really?" Lisa seemed very surprised to hear this. "You never told me this Carrie, how come?"

"I never thought it was that important." I replied not really wanting to talk about this.

"Not important?" Lisa said with raised eyebrows. "How can you tell me that's not important? How long have you felt this way?"

"Since the beginning." Tanya answered for me again. Jesus she needs to shut up.

"This whole time I've been telling you how lucky you are to be able to wear what you want and you don't actually like wearing the bikini? My God Carrie this is very important."

"It's not that big of deal." I tried to tell her hoping she'd drop this. "Everyone wears them and they don't really interfere with my game."

"I don't know about that." Tanya disagreed. "Both coach Didi and I have discussed that you don't move as fast in games as you do in practice when you wear your workout outfit. You just seem so uncomfortable out there some days."

Lisa seemed a bit upset. "I've noticed that too. All this time I thought it was just because you were either nervous or that you're a rookie, but now I think they're right, you're uncomfortable in your uniform."

"Maybe she should just play naked?" Tanya suggested. At the time I believe jokingly but unfortunately Lisa jumped all over that idea.

"That would be a great idea." Lisa shouted. "I know if we lived in Europe she would be able to play topless on most of the beaches there. I bet if she played without the uniform she'd move a whole lot quicker like we know she can."

"Oh good God. I can't play naked." I jumped in almost horrified at the thought.

"Why not?" Lisa asked. I couldn't believe how serious she sounded.

"Well for one it's illegal." I replied as I felt a couple of butterflies growing in my stomach at the thought of going out in front of a crowd exposed like that, not to mention jumping and diving for the ball. "I'm sure I'd be arrested and charged with indecency. Second I'm sure it's against league rules to not wear the proper uniform."

"Well we could talk to Ms. Tipton about that." Tanya seemed to joke; although looking back I guess she wasn't. Ms. Tipton was the league commissioner who over saw the daily operations, not to mention she was an obvious lesbian who I've caught looking at me on more than one occasion. "Maybe if you're nice to her she'll let you try it."

"I can't imagine her doing that." I had said and would later find out I was wrong. "But even if she did like I said it's against the law and I really don't want to be arrested, in fact it might get me thrown off the tour."

"You're forgetting something though Carrie," Lisa jumped with a confident look on her face "you're playing in San Francisco, which is one of the most liberal cities in the whole country. If there were anyplace that would let you get away with this it would be here."

"You don't know that." I insisted. I had begun to become somewhat defensive since it seemed that they were actually serious about this.

"Well if Ms. Tipton agrees to this I'm sure she could talk to someone at City Hall who might be willing to turn a blind eye to our experiment." Tanya suggested with a half smile.

"Oh I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem." Lisa added. "I know full well that there are plenty of feminists and open-minded people there that would love this idea."

"You guys are serious, aren't you?" I said as I realized that they wanted me to actually try that. "I can't believe you think I would do something like that."

"Oh come on Carrie." Lisa began in that tone of voice she's used to get me to do things, the one that she's used for years and with too much success for my liking. "This is just what you need to improve your game, it's just what you and your partner need to get some notice, it's what the tour would need to draw more attention, plus it empowers you as a woman and sets a good example for others and frees you up from all those old stuffy stereotypes that a woman has to be covered or she's a whore. You have a beautiful body and you shouldn't be ashamed of it, especially if it helps your game."

"Helps me?" I nearly shouted. "I'll be naked in front of hundreds of people chasing a ball around."

"And I'll bet it'll be liberating. Oh my gosh Carrie you have to do this."

"Plus if it gets us more attention I'm all for it." Tanya gladly added. "I mean lets face we're wallowing in obscurity out there and this at the very least will let people know who we are."

"Then you play naked." I shot at her.

"My uniform doesn't slow me down." she replied. "Plus as much as I hate to admit it you look much better naked than I do."

"Oh, she would really make a statement all right." Lisa agreed. "Guys would be in love with her and want to spend money to see her, women would admire her for her courage, and even the city would be glad, because they get to look that much more progressive. You have to do this Carrie, for the good of your game and womankind."

Chapter 1 - Part 2

I argued over and over again against the idea, but Lisa was relentless, like she always is, and by the end of the afternoon she had me agreed to it but only if it was cleared with Ms. Tipton first. Of course I only agreed because I was sure she'd nix the idea but to my shock she was all for it, in fact she seemed to love the whole idea.

"And since it'll be in the early round we won't have to worry about TV so only the crowd in attendance will see." she gleefully acknowledged. "The word of mouth will be outstanding."

Hoping to get out of it though I told them they had to get clearance from the city which I thought for sure would say 'no' but once again they were right and I wasn't. Not only did they agree to it, they said that they'd provide extra police just to make sure that I was safe. I'm not sure how they did it, but now I'm actually expected to go out in front of a crowd and play beach volleyball in nothing but a visor, sunglasses and a lot of sun block.

Which leads me to where I am now, standing back in the dressing area about to get ready for our game. I watched Tanya change into her usual blue bikini uniform, which for the first time I found myself wishing I could put mine on too, and then she turned to me to let me know it was time for me to change.

I told her change implies putting something else on. This is more like just stripping. "Fine. Strip then." she said.

"Time for our coming out party Carrie." Tanya said almost in a teasing fashion. "You should probably wear the jacket for the walk out but you can go bare underneath. When you take the jacket off it'll make for a nice moment out there."

I can't believe I'm about to do this. My stomach was all-aflutter and my hands were practically shaking as I pulled off my top and unbuttoned my shorts and let them drop to the ground. Oh God what is my mother going to think if she finds out about this? Coach Didi came in to see, if we were ready and Tanya told her we would be once I got my 'undies' off. She seemed a little too excited about this for my liking, but I guess in her mind we were going to get the attention that she wanted. God how did Lisa talk me into this? How does she always talk me into these things? With great hesitation and much fear I undid my bra and then slid out of my thong panties and now stood naked as the day I was born. That morning unlike others I paid particular attention to my shave job before leaving the hotel. I always kept my bush nicely trimmed but today I had it trimmed into a cute inch wide landing strip knowing it would be on display. Being blond it wasn't that dramatic but I wanted it to look nice since I knew it would be on display.

I then spread a healthy amount of sun block all over everything with Tanya enthusiastically doing my back. Wearing the same tight uniform the whole season so far, which compared to my today's attire wouldn't feel so bad any more in future, had left me with with a nice tan on most part of my body. Unfortunately as small the area was, which was normally covered by the uniform's top and bottom, it stood out clearly now in contrast to the rest. I always hated those wicked tan lines I'd get from being out in the sun so much but figured it was just part of the job. As Tanya finished doing my back and I turned to grab my sunglasses she gave me a thorough look from top to bottom.

"You know, we can't let you show these on the court, but I just have the right solution." Tanya said as she reached into her bag and fetched a little jar out of it. As I dabbed the tanning body make-up with the small sponge first on my upper half and then on my most private nether regions Tanya just stood there watching me. In between adjusting the pale skin to feign an all over tan I caught a glimpse of her smiling at me. She seems to enjoy this too much, I thought.

Tanya then handed me my jacket which I quickly put on and was at least glad to be covered, for now, and then coach Didi with a sly grin on her face lead us out of the dressing room and towards the waiting crowd, who had gathered on a nice sunny day to watch professional beach volleyball. Little did they know the sight they were really in for?

Chapter 2

Part 1

"Wow, looks like a good crowd." Tanya said more to herself as we entered the makeshift stadium. "This is pretty good considering it's only an opening round match."

She wasn't kidding. My jaw almost dropped when I saw the size of the crowd that was waiting to watch us, every seat from top to bottom was filled which is rather unusual for such an early round. I looked through the crowd at all the faces, both young and old and very diverse, and my legs instantly began to feel wobbly. Oh my God how am I going to concentrate on the match with all these people watching my naked body? Why again did I agree to do this? Oh yeah, because Lisa can talk me into anything, damn her.

"They can't all be here just to watch us?" I asked as the horror of what was expected of me really began to sink in. "It wasn't advertised what I would be doing was it?"

"No." Didi answered as she shook her head. "The seeding got changed at the last minute. You two are playing May and Walsh in the first round."

"What!" I shouted and then looked over and saw Misty and Kerri on the other side of the court. "I thought we were playing Thomas and James?"

"Ms. Tipton changed it at the last minute." Didi informed me. "Had to do with their schedules, and you know, those two get top treatment around here. Don't worry though I have faith the two of you will make a good go of it."

"And Carrie will make a good show of it." Tanya teased me as we stopped in our designated area. "Hey there's Lisa. I think she's calling you over Care."

I looked over and sure enough Lisa was there in the front row waiving for me to come over. She had somebody with her, a lady who looked like she was in her mid-forties and dressed rather professional.

"Carrie, are you wearing your new uniform under that jacket?" Lisa asked in a teasing tone when I made my way over to her.

"Yes I am and I'm having second thoughts about this. I don't think I can do it." I answered honestly. In fact I was having third and fourth thoughts about it too.

"Oh you'll do great." she reassured me and then turned to the woman next to her. "Carrie this is Millie Woods, a reporter from The Chronicle and a well-respected feminist from around here. I talked her into coming to see you and if she's impressed she plans to write an article for the paper about you and your plight for women's rights."