My 5 biggest qualms with the US tours

Despite the fact that we speak of beach volleyball as a game, it is still very much a business, and when mentioned in the same light of other major sports like football, basketball, or baseball, the business aspect serves as the sub-plot to shake up stability and add drama and complexity to a sport that would otherwise be very one-dimensional.  Now if you are an athlete in one of those major sports, the business aspect, is like a bed sheet that is too short.  Sure you won't be 100% comfortable but at least it's something, and you do have a bed to sleep on and a roof over your head.  Unfortunately for beach volleyball, financial stability has not been a comodity for quite some time, and since we've witnessed 2 bankruptcies, "The Decision" is small potatoes in comparison to whether or not there will be a viable outlet for our top athletes to play year in and year out.  We players and fans are always on edge for more reasons than we would like, but for now I would like to share my top 5 reasons why I hate the way that the domestic tours are being run.  I will always love the game, but I've found myself to be left without a bed sheet and it has left me cold and discouraged.


1.  Merchandise

Do you have any sports memorobilia?  I sure do.  I have a Chicago Bull's jersey, t-shirt, and hat.  A Chicago Cub's blanket, jersey, hat, and a couple posters.  I have a Chicago Bears t-shirt and long sleeve shirt.  Notice that I didn't say that I had a MLB t-shirt, or a NBA hat.  No sports fan gets empassioned about the league itself.  Where fiery sports-riddled mania is grown is through team and player loyalty, but beach volleyball doesn't have that.  There are no Chicago vs. Green Bay rivalries, north side vs. south side disdain. There is just team A vs. team B.  It is very lack luster and doesn't spark any imagination for the casual fan to become a fanatic, which is why I was disappointed to see this on the NVL's site

How many hats have you seen that just had the Jerry West inspired NBA logo on, or the NFL shield?  So why try market your league as your brand?  The other sports have already laid out the blueprint for a successful business so I don't understand why we can't take some of their ideas.  Maybe having regional "teams" like California, Midwest, Florida, East coast, and Southwest divisions may never come to fruition, but you have to market the players and teams as your brand.  When a team splits up and switches partners it need to be felt with the same emotional animosity as Lebron leaving Cleveland.  If you market just the league itself then all there is to cheer for is if the tour will see another year which is not all that inspiring, and you won't ever see anyone at a tournament cheering "N-V-L, N-V-L, N-V-L" or "A-V-P, A-V-P, A-V-P,".  If the biggest clothing brands like Quiksilver, Hurley, Billabong, and RVCA don't pair up with either of these tours going forward then we can expect to see more turmoil in the years ahead.

2.  Stadiums

I'm going to have to bash on the NVL again, despite the fact that I like the way that they are taking a grassroots approach to building the game.  I couldn't help but do this

When I saw this...

Click here for a preview of the tournament site in Mason, OH

Of course I'll have to expand a bit on this critique.  When I talk about my affection for "beach volleyball", I'm talking about volleyball that takes place at the beach, which is a sandy area residing next to a large body of water like an ocean or lake.  Having beach volleyball at "The Beach", which is a water park in Mason, Ohio makes about as much sense as well this...

People go to the beach to lay out, mingle, play in the water, party, and watch incredibly attractive athletes sacrifice their bodies in a hectic scramble for points through the well rounded display of power, finesse, teamwork, and hand eye coordination.

Although I have fond memories of water parks as a kid I first realize that there is a specific target audience for water parks:  kids.  So when I think of having a tournament inside of a water park I can only think of a small percentage of patrons going there because of the volleyball, and everyone else are middle aged parents  sacrificing their bodies going down slides, and scrambling to fetch money out of their purses for ice cream and nachos.

With that in mind, let's talk about the actual structure itself:  the stadium.  This has become a staple among domestic and foreign tours, where the very best of the best are featured on center court.  Unfortunately the AVP has proven to us time and again that this isn't sustainable.  The FIVB has managed to pull this off because volleyball is more popular in other parts of the world and is only 2nd to soccer.  The beach (not the water park) is a unique and incredible venue that needs to be cherished and preserved.  I can understand building sand courts where there is no beach available like in Arizona or Texas, but as long as there is a beach to be had, it should be utilized.  The beach is inclusive, it allows instant access to the athletes and removes any barriers that separate fan from player and that's because they are one in the same.  In beach volleyball each player possess the same passion and social outgoing personalities.  While other sports are willing to lend their athletes through press conferences, Twitter accounts, and TV screens, beach volleyball allows you to mingle in the flesh, in a vast yet intimate setting that is only highlighted even more by the brightness and warmth of the sun.  So pardon me when I become slightly more than perturbed when I continue to see these structures build to keep out anyone walking or biking by.  Beach volleyball is a humble sport, a sport of the people, and to exclude yourself from the people also drives out potential fans, because it doesn't take much to get anyone excited, and you (the NVL and AVP) should know better.

3. VIP/player tents

As a current player I get the idea of rewarding all the hard work that players have gone through:  the training, the travel, and the dues, but as mentioned in the previous section, beach volleyball is a social affair, and it just seem pretentious and exclusive to have these VIP/player tents.  Now if you want to set up stations for the players to get medical treatment or get something to eat or drink, I can live with that and I'm sure it would be a great way to pick up sponsors, but it just seems foreign to me to secluded from the entire experience that is beach volleyball.  I'm not condemning every player on tour because I'm sure not all them isolate themselves, but the image that the tours are projecting to the fans is  a familiar one to people who don't get access to the athletes they cheer on.  The only difference is that the casual fan can either identify or know who some of the big names in other sports are.  By having our athletes mingle and be more accessible to the casual fans it bodes well for the athlete and the sport itself, and gives those fans a reason to come back, instead of just being able to gaze upon the "important people" over there.

4.  Ball selection

Why does this have to be so hard?  I know that Spalding and Wilson and Mikasa, as well as the AVP and NVL among others think that it is just good business, but for us the players it is horrible having to adjust to different balls.  Sure you should be well rounded enough to handle any of the seemingly small changes that come with the game but having played as long as I have, this small difference turns out to be a big one.

The difference in size and weight changes your arm swing, and as a result can (and for me has) resulted in shoulder issues.  The comfort and "feel" isn't the same if you can expect the same reaction from the ball.  You strengths with one ball may be stripped away with another.  In the long run, if both major tours become profitable enough, it may end up dividing the players simply because of the type of ball that is used, and I can tell you that aint nobody got time for that drama.

5.  Egos

So back when the AVP announced their dubious resurrection thanks to Donald Sun, virtually everyone was relieved and happy.  Fast forward to today, about a month after the AVP announced their schedule for the 2013 season, and it has 2 conflicting dates with the NVL, and many of those people who where overwhelmed with joy have turned bitter and annoyed.  The game of beach volleyball, which was founded in America, is currently on life support, thanks to Al-B.

I'm sure that Donald Sun with his fat wallet thinks that he can buy up the top players lure in big advertisers, and spend his way to the top of the game, but if he hasn't noticed (which I doubt he has), that is exactly what the "old" AVP has done for the last 15 years and look where it's got them.  So unless it is Donald's wish to go broke, this alpha-dog complex is going to get him no where, not as a company, not with the fans, and it surely isn't going to help the game progress any further.

Sure Al-B and Donald may look at one another as competition, but really their best interest is that the other prospers.  There should be cooperation and coordination so that the athletes have the best opportunities to entertain the fans, and make an actual living, and that's not just the top 10%, but ALL of the athletes.  It disheartens me that those who put in the most work for the game they love hardly get any financial reward from it, and while the success or failure of a tour may not seem like a big deal to Donald or Al-B, for an entire community of players it is our lifestyle and it is our very lives that hang int he balance.  To butt heads and force us to pick sides is classless, and it is not what we deserve.