Fifty-four years of naked volleyball
Description
As summer closes and Labor Day arrives, White Thorn Lodge is once again alive with the sound of whistles, music, and cheers. The 54th Superbowl of Volleyball is already underway in Darlington, Pennsylvania, drawing more than a hundred teams and thousands of nudists for what has become one of the largest naturist gatherings in North America.
The story of the Superbowl
When White Thorn Lodge first opened its gates in 1961, it was just 106 acres of reclaimed strip-mined land in the hills of western Pennsylvania. Like many nudist clubs of its era, volleyball quickly became a favorite pastime. But in 1971, two members, Betty and Wayne Alwine, proposed something new: a tournament to crown a champion on neutral ground. Inspired by the NFL’s recently minted Super Bowl, they dubbed it the Superbowl of Volleyball.
That first contest was modest. But by the next year the date was fixed: the weekend after Labor Day, a tradition that has remained unbroken ever since. The Superbowl quickly grew beyond a simple tournament. The $600 raised in 1973 paved White Thorn’s first volleyball court. Within a few years it was the club’s main fundraiser, a festival in its own right, and the centerpiece of White Thorn’s identity. Today, there are eleven courts—sand, blacktop, and grass—maintained specifically for the annual event.
By the 2000s, the Superbowl had become an eleven-day celebration drawing around 2,000 nudists and over 100 volleyball teams from the U.S., Canada, and beyond. It has become known as one of the largest nudist sporting gatherings in North America.
Born on the courts
Eli Hunter’s connection to the Superbowl runs deep. A third-generation nudist, his first “visit” to White Thorn came before birth, when his mother attended while pregnant with him. With a father who trained with the U.S. national volleyball team in the late ’70s and ’80s, volleyball was in Eli’s DNA.
“I grew up going to White Thorn, playing in the Superbowl tournament year after year,” Hunter told Planet Nude. “Now, more than 30 years later, it’s still the most fun tournament of the year.”
In 2007, as a college student, he brought his own team to compete, and over time he has played in every division, from youth matches to the semi-pro AA/Open level. The championships are exhilarating, he notes, but it’s the enduring friendships that matter most. “The sense of community, the joy of reconnecting with people year after year, make it truly special,” he reflects.
That community is what sets the Superbowl apart. Spectators line the courts with lawn chairs, campers spill across every available patch of grass, and in l
United States
