Up to this point, beach volleyball has maintained the status quo more or less, without much deviation to expand, develop, or progress the game significantly. But all of that may change in the immediate future.
We all know that beach volleyball was born and started in Southern California, and from that same region, we have seen some of the greatest players of all-time in both the indoor and outdoor game, but as the popularity of beach volleyball spread across the country we also have seen talent spikes (no pun intended) in different regions like Florida, and the Midwest. Even with those talent spikes Southern California has remained head and shoulders above the rest, and remains the place to be to take your game to the next level. Being anywhere else doesn't necessarily make it impossible, just improbably and illogical. It is like being an NFL player and practicing and training in Canada with CFL players. To be the best you gotta play against the best.
Before I expanded my thoughts on the NVL's money grab to develop beach volleyball athletes at the junior level with their Club Med facilities. Consider their philosophy (volleyball not business), to be a growing trend in the years to come. Here we have the next major development, the OC Sand Volleyball Club, started by Brad Keenan and April Ross.
With beach volleyball still in its infancy stages in the NCAA the talent pool is still very much spread out due to the fact that for the most part these are just indoor players playing on sand. Outside of the few exceptions, the sophistication of beach volleyball skills and intellect is basically on par and in proportion with that of the players' indoor skills and intellect. Expect that to change. Yes, the SoCal school are still holding down the majority of top beach programs, but that is also because they also have some of the top indoor programs as well. This year's AVCA Collegiate Sand Championships featured teams from Georgia State, FIU, UAB, and Jacksonville University, which let's be honest aren't the first names that come to mind in terms of volleyball, indoor or beach.
So why should be see a growing gap between the elite and the "very good" in years to come, and what does the OC Sand Volleyball Club have to do with it? Well as you may have taken note of, top programs like UCLA and USC have brought on retired professionals Stein Metzger and Misty May-Treanor for their school's team respectively. Schools that identify the need for specialization, that being the identification of the stark difference between the indoor and beach game and the resulting consequence of hiring different people for those jobs, will likely see exponential growth in success and development.
The OCSVC has gotten their foot in the door first, and now has the inside track with professionals who have had very successful careers in the hot bed in the world for beach volleyball talent. It will make it all the more likely that they will graduate athletes to nearby schools on the West coast, and as the old adage goes, the rich will keep getting richer.
But hey, prove me wrong Nebraska and Penn State. But I think you will find that transitioning from the indoor game to the beach is just as hard for the players as it is for the coaches, so it won't be long until there is a noticeably higher class of program. Basically, you can only drink Jameson for so long until you discover single malt Scotch. For the athletes, there may be more money in playing for international clubs post-collegiate career, but the competition to earn roster spots is much stiffer. With the beach game literally open to anyone who can make it through qualifiers (i.e Summer Ross), the incentive to pick a program with great indoor AND beach programs will be higher than ever, but ultimately it will be the schools that invest now that can see dividends pay out in the near future and long-term.
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