AVP’s bankruptcy last month foretold a slow, painful rebirth of beach volleyball. On Monday, with a push from U.S. Olympic Volleyball and events management behemoth IMG, beach volleyball reemerged full born.
An opening in the dark cloud hovering over the future of professional beach volleyball in the United States cast a glimmer of hope Monday when USA Volleyball (USAV) announced that a multi-year agreement with IMG Action Sports. The partnership will hold an Olympic qualifying Beach Championship Series next summer, USA Beach Volleyball managing director Dave Williams, of Hermosa Beach, and IMG Action Sports director James Leitz said in an interview on Monday. A combination of points from the domestic series and the overseas FIVB tournaments will determine which 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams qualify for the beach volleyball Olympic trails, to be held in 2012. Williams and Leitz said the dates and locations of the Olympic trials have not been determined, but that they plan to hold the trials on a beach, not in a stadium with trucked in sand.
The Beach Championship Series will consist of four to six events and include tournaments in Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Chicago and Belmar, NJ. The move creates a foundation for scores of professional players who saw their season cut short when the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) suspended operations in August, canceling the last five events on the tour.
On October 29, the AVP filed for bankruptcy protection. According to papers, the tour said it has less than $184,000 in assets and $4.97 million in liabilities.
This left the future of professional beach volleyball more up in the air than the toss prior to a Phil Dalhausser jump serve. Only the top five or so male and female teams qualify to compete in Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) events overseas. The remaining players in the United States were left asking themselves “Where do I go now to play?” and “Do I throw away years of training and work full time?”
The Beach Championship Series will help fill some of the void for many while aiding the elite teams as they prepare for the qualifying process leading up to the Olympics games in 2012. The Beach Championship Series marks the first time USAV has ventured into the pro beach game. In addition, the USAV will operate the Olympic trials for the first time since 1996.
“This represents USA Volleyball’s continuing commitment to and investment in beach volleyball,” said USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal in a statement released Monday. “This partnership will allow us to promote the beach game while giving U.S. beach volleyball teams the opportunity to compete at a high level as we move toward London in 2012.”
USAV is the national governing body for both beach and indoor volleyball.
Chris Brown, President of the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA), believes USAV took a big step in the right direction in April when the organization hired Williams, the former Vice President of Operations for the AVP.
“USAV had always been viewed by beach players as giving precious little back to the beach community,” Brown said. “With the AVP gone, it opens up a lot of opportunities. I have reason to believe that each of the events (in the Beach Championship Series) will be great.”
Having produced more than 150 events for the AVP, Williams had a birds-eye view of the problems that led to the demise of the association.
“We’ve had this (Beach Championship Series) in the works since May,” Williams said during Monday’s interview. “It was not a reaction to the AVP announcement. We need to create a successful business model, something the AVP did not have.”
First items on the agenda for the new partnership will be creating a sponsorship program and the implementation of a schedule in fan-favorite markets. USAV and IMG have been meeting with top players and player representatives to ensure needs are met before the series gets off the ground.
“Pro beach volleyball has always been an important and vital part of the lifestyle sports landscape,” IMG Action Sports director Leitz said. “Pro beach volleyball has a passionate fan base and a loyal list of brands committed to its ongoing success. The new series fits well into our portfolio of lifestyle and action sports properties. Alongside USAV, we see a bright future for the sport through 2016 and beyond.
“We intend to stabilize the sport and maintain a glide path to the Olympics. It’s a great opportunity to develop beach volleyball on a regional level with an end game, that being the Olympics.”
Leitz knows what it takes to produce a major event on the sand. During his 13-year career with IMG, he played an integral role in the Mervyn’s Beach Bash held in Hermosa Beach in the early 2000s. The four-day event included an AVP pro beach tournament, skate boarding, music and beach fashions.
IMG manages events in 30 countries. The events include the US Open of Surfing and Beach Games in Huntington Beach to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC and the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco.
“With the Beach Championship Series, we want to amplify the beach volleyball lifestyle,” Leitz said. “We don’t have to build the Taj Mahal on the beach to be successful.”
Leitz said each event in the series will be televised and expects $150,000 in prize money to be awarded at each tournament.
Williams feels the success of the Beach Championship Series will be crucial for beach volleyball players who aspire to represent the U.S. in future Olympic Games.
“We have to get this done if we expect to have success in Rio de Janeiro in 2016,” Williams said. “It all starts now. Where are our next Olympians going to come from?”
Williams pointed out that only two male and two female teams can represent their country in the Olympics and there are only three ways to qualify — The FIVB, the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) and the Continental Cup.
He would like nothing more than to keep American beach volleyball players on top of the podium at the Olympic medal ceremony. In 2008, the United States became the first country in history to have both its men’s and women’s teams win gold medals in the same Olympic Games.
Although he works more at the grassroots level of the sport, Brown is well aware of the importance of having a platform where America’s top beach volleyball players and Olympic hopefuls can compete.
“The CBVA has had a longtime affiliation with USAV,” Brown said. “We have helped identify and evaluate many Olympic prospects. We have also discussed the possibility of holding qualifying tournaments for the Beach Championship Series events held in California.”
With so much uncertainty heading into next year, the announcement of the 4- to 6-event series is good news for the volleyball community. Brown would like to see one or two additional six-event tours held in conjunction with the USAV series.
“The sport will fix itself,” Brown said. “There is so much passion for beach volleyball. This year, the CBVA was up more than 20 percent in membership and participation. The question is ‘How long will it take?’ I just hope it’s sooner than later.” ER
