Olympian, Stanford Alum Kerri Walsh Jennings Staging SJ Tourney

SAN JOSE, CA -- A fitting two-year countdown to retirement, U.S. gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings will come home to the Bay Area to stage an invitational beach volleyball tournament in late September as a launching pad to her next Summer Olympics bid in Tokyo in 2020.

Walsh Jennings, a Stanford University graduate who has won three gold medals and one bronze from Rio de Janiero, plans to go out with a bang in Japan.

“I expect to kick a__. I’ve been very clear what I want,” Walsh Jennings told Patch Wednesday. She expressed disappointment at coming in third in Brazil and has overcome the scenario played out with partner Nicole Branagh.

Albeit moving on from her friend, Walsh Jennings is expected to announce her new partner soon for her watershed moment in time. At a towering 6 feet in height, Walsh Jennings knows the “plan to go out on top” is a tall order for whomever she selects.

She and Misty May Treanor, a supermom now who Walsh Jennings admits she hardly sees anymore, were considered the most accomplished women’s beach volleyball competitors of all time. Walsh Jennings said if she would have won in Rio, she “would’ve retired” by now.

“It really took me to my knees. But I’ve come back and to being in the moment, and that will make me a better Jedi,” she said, referring to a fictional Star Wars knight.

Her sport like many others is a mental game. That’s where her event and company will contribute to her four-part spiritual mantra – competition, health/wellness, personal development and entertainment.

The event as part of her organization's p1440 series, which was named for how many minutes are meant to be seized in the day, features competitive matches, live music including Foster the People to play, wellness exercises, cooking demonstrations and other family-friendly activities. It’s scheduled for Sept. 28-30 at the Ayaya Stadium grounds. The arena in home to the San Jose Earthquakes, a major league soccer team.

“There’s no place like home,” the Santa Clara native admitted to her return. “This sport since I was 10 years old has given me this beautiful community. It’s so healthy, and it’s growing (in popularity) like gangbusters.”

Her event is expected to bring out about 10,000 people enjoying high quality beach volleyball and a big festive party. The event is part of her new p1440 company’s “true labor of love” and is designed to provide more of a playing platform for athletes to perform in front of fans. Throw in activities to enhance body, mind and spirit -- the tri aura of a better life for this Zen warrior -- and you’ve got something to celebrate. Her eco- and social conscious-friendly sponsors the Positivity Project and Just Water round out the experience.

Walsh-Jennings and fellow organizers are shipping in 2,700 tons of sand to build a custom beach for this professional volleyball tournament attracting 96 athletes vying for $300,000 in total prize money. The purse to be split by the winning team is $28,000.

Among the competitors are Carolina Solberg from Brazil and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland. The Olympic sensation trains with the Swiss woman.

Even though Walsh Jennings lives in Manhattan Beach (to some degree as many pro beach volleyball players), she travels the world to promote and play in her sport. Switzerland’s Gstaad happens to have some of the best sand in the world. She also likes the sand at Copacabana beach in Rio, the pits at her homebase in Manhattan Beach for its “clean and deep sand" -- which is commonly found on the Olympic courts. The World Tour has more shallow grounds.

"It affects the timing," she said.

Walsh Jennings also enjoys playing at the beach found at Incline Village on the East Shore of Lake Tahoe. But when factoring in the sand and the ambience, she calls her old stomping grounds at Stanford “absolute perfection.”

Visit p1440 San Jose for more information. Tickets may be obtained through www.p1440.com/events/san-jose.

Weekend passes start at $80 for adults and $40 for youth under age 12. Single-day tickets start at $40 for adults; $20 for youth. Kids under age 3 get in free.

Following the p1440 San Jose event, Walsh Jennings is staging others in Las Vegas, San Diego and Huntington Beach.

--Images courtesy of p1440