The AVP's "elephant in the room": Skin cancer

Karch Kiraly, the all-time winningest pro beach player who is retiring after this season, admits that the thought of having skin cancer isn't on his radar.
“I can’t say it’s a big issue,” the 46-year-old old from San Clemente via Santa Barbara said.
Kiraly is definitely "old school" in his ignorance-is-bliss thinking. He'll tell you about how he grew up thinking he had to get to the beach for "our beginning of summer burn, then peal it off, do it again, and finally get a nice brown coat."
Sun screen? Why?
"You look at the first generation of surfers in the '60s, all pre-sun screen," Kiraly said. "None of us had that. We all got burns a couple of times a year, and we dealt with it. Life has risks, and it wouldn't be worth living if we tried to eliminate all of them. All the time we've spent out here eventually may catch up to us."
As for the statistics that show skin cancer on the rise, or that global warming is causing a lot of today's issues, Kiraly didn't sound very startled.
"First, I don't associate any of this with global warming; there are huge question marks there," he said. "I don't see higher cancer rates worrisome. I think it's a function of having a great time on Earth. We're living, at least in the U.S., double the life expectancy. We're the longest living generation in humanity. With all forms of cancer, if you catch it early, there's a great rate of recovery. And the medical technology is better. I think the reason cancer rates go up is that people are living longer.
“I have almost zero to complain or worry about in a sport that’s given many of us some wonderful opportunities. (Worry of skin cancer) is probably low on the list of concerns for many players and management. I don’t know if it should be higher.”
It is for John "The H-Bomb" Hyden, a 34-year-old Sherman Oaks resident from San Diego State, who has a wife, Robyn, and nearly 1-year-old daughter Samantha.
The two-time Olympic indoor player says "it's crazy" how much time he spends in the sun. That sort of changed when he recently became more aware of how many trips he was making to the dermatologist to have moles examined.
"I have a ton of moles, and some of them are mishaped and miscolored," he said. "I have to watch over them. Every year, I ask my wife to look at them and see if she thinks they're different. Usually, they are and we end up having the doctor take them off."
Last year, Hyden was actually the partner of Jeff Nygaard, who recently found out he needed a patch of melanoma skin taken out of his left upper arm.
"Most dermatologists say you should be wearing sun screen all day no matter what you do," said Hyden. "You gotta be careful with everything. I hope we're getting the word out more compared to back in the day. There's a lot more research done and people should know more about it."
Hyden is one of several AVP players who endorse wearing the SolarSafe bracelet, which changes colors as the sun's UV rays become more dangerous to warn people it's time to either reapply sun screen or get into the shade as soon as possible.
"It's something I'm getting used to wearing, just having your ankles taped," said Hyden. "It fits tight on the wrist so it doesn't get in the way. The great thing is how it tells you to put the sunscreen over it, and when its changing, it's doing the same thing as your skin is."
Nygaard, whose early-stage melanoma story is featured in today's Daily News, admits he's become more educated about skin safety after talking more about the subject with John Lyons, co-chairman of SolarSafe USA. The company has recently become an official AVP sponsor. It has been available for years in Europe, particularily England, where overcasts days are normal and people don't realize how easy it is to burn.
As long as you can cast a shadow, there's UV rays coming down.
"This all stems from a personal connection; my father died of melanoma 15 months ago after years of working as a Sacramento homicide policeman, where he had plenty of near-death experiences on the job," said Lyons.
"You look at the culture surrounding the AVP: People between 20-to-50, fit, but they don't wear a uniform and hardly ever cover up. There's a lot of coolness and pride that goes with that. The sun really is colorblind. There are a surprisingly number of diagnosed skin-cancer patients who are Latinos now, and its discovered later in life, leading to higher number of deaths."
Lyons is trying, in addition to increasing awareness of on the beach, to reach baseball fans and golfers with his product. While the AVP has no formal policy about the safety of its fans from the sun's rays -- it might be nice to put more shade tents for those fans sitting in the main stadium who've been saving their seats all day and are afraid to move for fear of losing it -- Lyons noticed during a trip he made to Kansas City to see a Royals game that there's a real need for further education.
"Who's responsible, the teams?" Lyons asked about liabilty issues. "Hopefully, they realize what's going on and make sunscreen available easily."
“To me all starts in the morning, when the families head outside and ask themselves the question, 'How much damage (to my skin) will be done today?'" said Lyons. "Sun safe habits can't help but bring more awareness of sun screen use. If our product help changes habits, it's helped change that culture of thinking.
"The sun isn't changing anytime soon."

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More information:
=The National Cancer Institute's link to statistics on skin cancer.
=The American Cancer Society's information on skin cancers.
=A story on the Reuters news service headlined: People still ignore skin cancer warnings.
=A recent column in the Orange County Register about AVP and its sun-drenched dangers, including interviews with Jake Gibb, Elaine Youngs and Nygaard, before he was ready to talk about his melanoma treatment.
=A story on the AVP.com site about Dr. Julie Romias.