Kent Steffes

Kent Steffes (born June 23, 1968) is an American former professional beach volleyball player.

Steffes received his AAA beach rating while still attending Palisades High School. He enrolled at Stanford University and played for one season before transferring to UCLA, where he graduated with a degree in economics. While a Bruin he joined the AVP Tour full-time in 1988. That same year, he was selected as the MVP of the AVP. By the time Steffes retired in 1999, he had won over $2,500,000 in prizes.

Personal life

Steffes became a member of the AVP Board of Directors, and also served as secretary. In 2000, he enrolled in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford, where he graduated in 2002. He has two children and lives in Los Angeles, California, where he writes and works in the financial industry.

Book

Steffes is the co-author of the book Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Together with his co-author Travis Mewhirter, it chronicles the rise of beach volleyball from a 1970s rebel culture to inclusion in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and offers an in-depth look at the dramatic quarterfinal match between Steffes and his partner Karch Kiraly against Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel.

Awards and honors "Most dominant player of the 1990s" USA Volleyball Hall of Fame Inductee (2020) All-Time Great Beach Player CBVA Hall of Fame (2004)