Always on Top of His Game

Curt Toppel Is a Giant in the World of Professional Volleyball

For an athlete who never stays in one place for very long, coming home to Southern California is a vacation to international volleyball star Curt Toppel. Okay, so it’s more like a “working” vacation, but after seven years of playing indoors all over the world he’s happy to be back on the beach near his Pacific Palisades roots. “It’s crazy, but I don’t really consider this my home,” says Toppel, who rents a room at the home of his current beach partner Jesse Rambis in Playa Vista while they train. “I’m not in the States very often, so it’s good to be back for a little while.” On the pro beach volleyball tour, it’s not uncommon for players to change partners frequently and since getting back into the beach game last year, Toppel had two partners (first Jeremy Holmes, then David McKienzie) before joining forces with Rambis. “Jesse and I won a CBVA tournament in Zuma Beach three weeks ago and that got us into last weekend’s Manhattan Beach Open,” Toppel said. “They brought back side-out scoring and switched to larger courts and a different ball than what we’re used to, but it was a lot of fun.” Toppel and Rambis literally played until the sun went down on Saturday, fighting fatigue and the competition through six long, grueling matches (including four in a row) in eight hours to finish 13th out of 64 teams. “This is only my second year on the beach so I’m still adjusting to it,” says Toppel, who will be entering his eighth season indoors–the first seven of which he spent overseas. “I actually prefer the beach because it makes me have to be good at every aspect of the game and I’m involved every single point. In indoor, I may not touch the ball for three, four, five plays.” Only 29, Toppel has already endured his share of knee, back and shoulder injuries throughout his career, but he believes the beach game is less taxing on the body. “Playing on the sand is easier on the joints, that’s for sure,” he says. “It works your muscles more, yes, but it’s definitely easier on the joints and that’s where most of the stress is.” Though he agrees there are fewer upsets in the traditional side-out format, Toppel actually prefers rally scoring because he thinks it could prolong his career: “I was hitting 80 balls a game my freshman year in college and I was constantly having to take anti-inflammatories. The matches went on forever. At least with rally scoring, you know there’ll only be so many points. It’s also made our sport better to watch on television.” Toppel, who was a three-time All-American at Stanford, has become good friends with his current beach partner, son of former Los Angeles Lakers forward and current Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Kurt Rambis. “I was at his house during the NBA Finals in 2008 when the Lakers were playing the Celtics,” Toppel recalls. “They took me to Game 3 at Staples Center and we had floor seats right in front of the Celtics players’ wives. I’d never been to an NBA game before and the Lakers won so it was an incredible experience.” Even taller than most of his peers at 6′ 9,’ Toppel has played opposite hitter ever since making the switch from middle blocker in college. He prefers his present position because it allows him more flexibility: “Opposite lets me play defense, which I like. And you’re sort of the guy who gets the ball when the set isn’t so good. Hitting and attacking have always been my strengths.” The son of Kurt and Haldis Toppel grew up in Marquez Knolls and went to St. Matthew’s from, as he says, “mother toddler through eighth grade.” He played with fellow Palisadians John Selgrath, John Beckwith and Jordan Wadsworth at Loyola High, where he was among the most highly-recruited prep players in the country. His one regret is that he never led the Cubs to a CIF title. “[Coach] Michael Boehle arrived there my senior year and that’s when the program really took off,” Toppel says. “And they’ve been good ever since.” Toppel’s biggest thrill came in 2001, when he led the United States to a gold medal at the World University Games in Beijing, China. “That was between my freshman and sophomore years [at Stanford] and Beijing had just gotten the bid to host the Olympics,” Toppel recalls. “We’d never won the tournament prior to that and I don’t think the U.S. has won it since. We went undefeated but we had to beat some really strong teams, including Russia in the semifinals and France in the finals.” Always on the go, Toppel does his best to keep in touch with his childhood friends. Billy Strickland (who played at Harvard-Westlake High and was Toppel’s teammate all four years at Stanford) still plays professionally. He also keeps in touch with fellow Palisadian Chris Mortimer, who played for Brentwood School and then UC San Diego. Through all of his travels, Toppel said his favorite place is Thessaloniki, a major port city in Greece that he describes as “friendly, clean and beautiful.” While living and playing in foreign countries has certainly broadened his horizons, being single comes with the territory. “After trying some relationships both overseas and in the U.S., I’ve found it too difficult for both myself and them,” Toppel confesses. “I’d like to have a family someday, but right now I’m concentrating on volleyball.” Toppel began playing club in 2004 for Caguas, a Division A1 team in Puerto Rico. Since then, he’s played for Almeria (A1) in Spain; Crema and Genoa (both A2) in Italy; Lares (A1) in Puerto Rico; Alexandoupolis (A1) in Greece, Hyundai (A1) in Korea; Unterhaching (A1) in Germany; Carolina (A1) in Puerto Rico; Al-Arabi (A1) in Qatar; and he played the 2010 season with Lamia, a Division A1 club in Greece. “Fifth place was the best [Lamia] had ever done until this year,” says Toppel, who speaks Spanish, Italian, German and Greek. “No one expected us to do well, but we ended up beating the second-ranked team twice on their home floor in the playoffs to reach the Final Four.” Toppel estimates he made $110,000 last year, but players are given extra perks like a house, a car and food while under contract with a team. One problem is getting paid, however. “With Lamia, I was supposed to receive money (Euros) every month, but after the first time it kept getting delayed. The good thing is, because most expenses are paid for, you can live off of one month’s salary.” Although he has yet to sign with a team for next season, Toppel is one of the most marketable players in the sport. Every year, he’s played for a different team and has had to weigh three factors: salary, location and the quality of the team. “I really don’t know my next step,” Toppel admits. “I could get the call next week and I’m out of here, but I’ll probably end up waiting for the next signing period in December.” No matter where he plays next, Toppel is anxious to do what he has always done–work hard, have fun and, most importantly, help his team win. “There’s not much more I could ask for,” he says. “I’m doing what I love and getting paid pretty well for it, so I want to keep doing it as long as I can.”