CEO’S MESSAGE
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hese are exciting times in beach volleyball. A decade from now, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the volleyball community looks back on 2012 as a milestone year for the sport. The biggest news so far has been the launch of NCAA sand volleyball, which kicked off March 3 when UAB hosted Florida State in the fi rst-ever collegiate dual sand match. With 15 schools across the U.S. participating, sand volleyball is currently an “emerging sport,” but coaches who are guiding it through its fi rst season are optimistic that many more schools will soon add programs. If that happens, it won’t be long – maybe even next year or the year after – before NCAA sand volley- ball reaches the 40 programs necessary to qualify as an offi cial NCAA championship sport. USAV is stepping up training of beach offi cials to help meet the expected need for the colleges and high school programs. Under the leadership of Steve Owen, Steve Kenyon and Keith Murlless, USAV is the only organization training beach offi cials. These three have reached out to the NCAA programs to assist them in fi nding and training qualifi ed offi cials. With playing opportunities at the collegiate level clearly on the rise for beach athletes, USA Volleyball is stepping up its efforts to increase training opportuni- ties and tournament competition for kids nationwide, from middle-school age players to high school seniors. One way we’re doing that is through the USA Beach Junior Tour, which was launched in partnership with the Elevation Group in 2006 and is expanding rapidly each year. This year’s tour, which is open to all players who want to test their skills in one of the four age divi- sions (18 and under, 16 and under, 14 and under and 12 under), begins April 21 and runs through mid-August across 18 states. (For more tour info, see page 14) In the training area, USAV continues to add layers to its Beach High Performance pipeline and develop- ment camps. The top of the Beach High Performance pyramid is the A1 Program, which consists of national teams in each gender and age group that are comprised of elite players selected from Beach High Performance tryouts. The best of the best from these teams represent the U.S. in international competitions such as the FIVB Beach Volleyball Youth (U-19) and Junior (U-21) World Championships. Next is the A2 program for players one level down who are invited to participate in High Performance camps. This includes the USAV Beach High Performance Championships in July. Recently, we added A3, which provides experienced coaching for athletes just below the A2 level. For everybody else, there are numerous USAV development camps across the country that players of any ability can participate in. What we’re striving for is to create more training opportunities and more competitions – both domestically and, for the elite juniors, internationally – for kids who love the beach game and want to continue working toward the next level. Our blueprint provides a very sophisticated and well- developed structure for young athletes, which means a 12-year-old can start at a development camp and someday end up on the U.S. National Beach Team. Most players won’t make it to that top tier, of course, but every player who participates will certainly get better and have a tremendous oppor- tunity to realize his or her potential.
Beach boom T
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As we move forward to grow our national beach programs, we will continue to help our regions create more High Performance opportunities at the local level. And before long, young players will be able to earn a national ranking as we assign point values for various sanctioned junior tourna- ments, whether they’re held in California, Florida or somewhere in the middle. At the pro level, USAV is fi nalizing plans for six major tournaments run by IMG, which is dou- ble the number we put on last summer. Combined with six scheduled National Volleyball League (NVL) tournaments and possibly eight events from the Wide Open Tour, 2012 will be a good year for pros and pro beach fans. That’s a nice supplement to this year’s main event: the beach competi- tion in London, where two of our four Olympic teams – Misty May-Treanor-Kerri Walsh and Todd Rogers-Phil Dalhausser – will defend their gold medals from Beijing. I’ve said before in this column that one of my primary goals when I took over as CEO of USA
Volleyball was to foster a “more, more, more” approach toward our High Performance programs. That’s happening this year. There are MORE training camps, MORE competitions, MORE teams, and that translates into one thing that everybody can agree is good for volleyball: MORE fun.
Doug Beal
PHOTO: UAB ATHLETICS
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