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To Bob Garrett’s surprise, he got a response. One of the president’s deputy secretaries sent a letter expressing Carter’s regrets in being unable to attend.

That didn’t stop Garrett. He created a “President Carter Couldn’t Make it Tonight� promotion and a record crowd of 3,176 squeezed into the high school gymnasium. Those who purchased tickets were given free peanuts and free American flags. Any uncle named “Sam� was admitted for free.

A year later, Garrett — a marine biologist from UCLA who had earned a master’s degree at the UA — wrote to Carter again. There was no response. So Garrett staged a “President Carter Just Might Make It Tonight� promotion.

Again, an overflow crowd in excess of 3,000 attended. As a bonus, the Sky became a powerhouse, winning the International Volleyball Association championship in 1979. The IVA was a professional co-ed volleyball league that, over three seasons, included franchises in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Denver, Salt Lake, El Paso, Albuquerque and Phoenix.

The Sky were so popular that they outdrew the Triple-A ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Toros in 1978 and 1979.

“Bob Garrett made it go,â€� remembers ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ attorney Burt Kinerk, who was a minority owner of the Sky franchise. “Everybody had a great time; it was more fun than anything. Catalina High’s gym was jammed, sold out. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.â€�

The Sky was so successful — on the court and at the gate — that Garrett staged a “No Charge; Pay on the Way Out� promotion. Fans, who paid between $2 to $4 for tickets, almost doubled the bottom line for a pay-before-you-enter game.

Corky Simpson, a ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Citizen sports columnist for three decades, wrote about the Sky frequently. Today, he says: “It was the most enjoyable team I covered in all my years as a sportswriter. Just so much fun, so many laughs. And the fans were all young, having a great time.â€�

The Sky franchise was created in 1977, purchased by Douglas H. Clark, a prominent ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ attorney and graduate of the UA’s law school. One of the state’s leading handball players, Clark later said the yearly budget for his IVA team was about $175,000, with about $75,000 going to the pro volleyball players, who were recruited globally. The Sky’s ’79 championship team included players from Peru, Mexico, Europe, Canada and standout Scott English, who had been a basketball standout at UTEP, as well as Amphi High School volleyball coach Anne Davenport.

Big names? There were a few. The IVA included the Orange County All-Stars, a team owned by basketball icon Wilt Chamberlain, a player-coach whose team lost to the Sky in a 1977 game at Catalina High School before a sellout crowd of 3,141.

“We had the world’s best volleyball players, it was just incredible,� Kinerk says now. “It clicked when we made it a co-ed league; we had four men and two women in the rotation. Even though it wasn’t profitable, it became a labor-of-love thing.�

The Sky won the ’79 championship by beating the Santa Barbara Spikers in California. But Garrett, the GM, didn’t have totally positive thoughts. He saw that the IVA’s other franchises did not promote their team the way the Sky did. No team had been aggressive enough to recruit, say, Coors or Bud Light to be a lead sponsor.

Before the ’80 season began, it was clear the league’s future was dim.

Santa Barbara ceased operations. Then San Jose shut down, followed by Albuquerque, Salt Lake City and Denver. By July, the Sky had no one to play.

“There’s no one in the world who will ever be able to take away the accomplishments of the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Sky,â€� said Garrett.

Garrett ultimately left ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and pro sports. He wrote advertising jingles and lyrics for Ford, Toyota and Yamaha, among others. Today he is a front man and guitar player for a San Diego-based classic rock band, the Fabulous Pelicans.

At a 2000 Sky reunion at Daisy Mae’s Steakhouse near “A� Mountain, Clark told the Citizen’s Simpson: “We were about two years ahead of the times. If the league could’ve held out for just two more years, I believe we would’ve been a smash hit on cable television.�

Talking about the Sky today, 42 years after the IVA folded, Kinerk’s voice transmits pride.

“I’ve still got the IVA championship trophy in my man cave,� he says with a laugh. “It always reminds me of how much fun we had.�