Plumber's Pipe Dream: Indoor Volleyball League
CRYSTAL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A Crystal, Minn., plumber caught the volleyball bug many years ago and he's now trying to turn it into his dream job.
"Volleyball's been a love since I started playing 16 years ago," said Bob Guptil. "And it just slowly grew."
He owns Hidden Beach, an indoor beach volleyball facility that opened up in an industrial building in Crystal about a year ago. He hosts leagues at night, and expects to get a bump during the Olympics, as more people discover the sport he loves.
"I want everybody to be on vacation for a couple hours (here)," he said.
Guptil actually got the idea while on a real vacation, playing volleyball in Colorado with his son, when somebody mentioned that there aren't any winter volleyball players in Minnesota.
"The wheels turned on the drive from Colorado back," Guptil said. "The wheels turned all night long."
It took a year to put it together, but last September he opened it, a full-time business with part-time work. Guptil has been a plumber for 29 years, and he still makes house calls in his Hidden Beach van, helping pay the bills while he develops the business he really loves.
"This is the dream here," he said. "Everybody should try to live it. This is my attempt."
Guptil's opening his fall league registration this week, right in the middle of the Olympics.
