A big hit on Carson Beach

As they warm up for a pickup volleyball game, Duy Ly and Thien Le try to put their finger on why the sport has become so popular among Dorchester's Vietnamese community.

"Vietnam is all about soccer," says the 19-year-old Ly. "I don't know why we're so into volleyball. I guess it just happened."

"I think part of it is because the beach is a good place to check out girls," adds Le, 20.

For the last decade or so, Carson Beach in South Boston has served as the summer home to an expanding group of Vietnamese volleyballers. On a weeknight, there can be as many as 50 players. On weekends, they have topped 100.

Just after 6 p.m. on Monday, as the Southeast Expressway inched along just off in the distance, the players began trickling down to the beach. Some came with a group of friends; most showed up alone. It's an informal event. As long as the weather is good, the game is on.

"We don't have any leagues or anything," said Tam Nguyen, 25. "The Vietnamese community just knows to come out whenever the nets are up."

On this night, there are four nets up: the two city-maintained nets on the beach -- which the players say are in dire need of replacement -- and the two that the players have erected on a triangular swatch of grass just in front of the Boston Teacher's Union Hall.

As a six-on-six game begins on one of the grass courts, the ball moves fast. Bump. Set. Spike. The fundamentals are all there. These guys know what they're doing.

"Losers go get water," someone yells, and the action picks up. The game is good-natured; the ribbing is gentle. But if the opportunity arises, as it often does, no one hesitates to spike a ball into an opponent's face.

Vu Ngo, 36, who recalls being part of the first wave of players to hit the beach in the 1990 s, said that many of the young teenagers have become very good at the game, and now dot the varsity teams at local high schools.

"That means we're doing our job," said Ngo, who has been running an annual volleyball tournament for the Asian community in Fields Corner since 2000. "We try to pass it on to the next generation, and we see a lot of new players every year."

Still, the question remains: Why the connection? How did a bunch of Vietnamese-Americans living in Dorchester become hooked on playing volleyball on a beach in Southie?

None of the players has a good answer. But Le has a theory.

"I think it's because Vietnamese people are too short to play basketball," he says.

Summer is playtime, and many of the games people play around Boston are steeped in cultural and neighborhood tradition. City Games looks at some of the trademark local things we do when the days are long and temps are high. Billy Baker can be reached at ciweek@globe.com.