Growing up in the 80′s and being the kid not big enough to play football (thus not that cool), skateboarding was my outlet. Yes, I was a skate punk…with the checkered Vans shoes and the bad Tony Hawk haircut (which my mom cut for me). I just finished watching Bones Brigade, a documentary of the greatest skateboarding team ever. I have always found many parallels between skateboarding and volleyball, particularly beach volleyball. These sports are part of a counter-culture, have grown and developed on their own (creating their own advertising, marketing, attendance, etc.), but I have felt that skateboarding has sustained (much because of the X-Games) where volleyball (particularly the AVP) has fallen off. Granted volleyball has pockets of success, the Olympics, FIVB tours, but not a sustainable success. Skateboarding does have an advantage in that it has hardware to sell to support their sport internally. I digress… Continue Reading

The AVP is Back! This is exciting news for Beach Volleyball, not only because the AVP brand is so well known, but because Donald Sun is a beach volleyball enthusiast and has a real passion for our game. The best quote of this release: “I also respect the activities and accomplishments of the current leagues. My goal is to work together in some way to unify beach volleyball in America.” The NVL, USA Beach, the Corona Wide Open, and EVP have done a great job in keeping the outdoor game alive and moving forward the past year. 2012 and beyond looks even brighter for beach volleyball… Continue Reading

Friday the 13th struck volleyball hard this year. Today, the AVP announced that it is “suspending operations“. In layman’s terms, the season is canceled and there is a good chance the AVP, a public company, may go bankrupt (the stock is currently trading at $0.02 per share).  Hans Stoflus offers some great insight from his perspective: End of Days. Continue Reading

Last year, the AVP Tour stopped in Coney Island for the July 4th tournament.   Growing up in Chicago, I remember a few stops coming through Chicago for that weekend.  I wonder why the AVP does not have consistent dates for tournaments, like 4th of July weekend in Chicago.  Chicago is a great venue and I know Chicago is a favorite stop among pros.  I would think consistent dates each year, like the Indy 500 or The Masters, would generate more repeat business.  Maybe the FIVB schedule in conjunction with AVP budget issues has something to do with the scheduling.

So where is good volleyball being played over the July 4th weekend?

Darren Baker is a friend of mine that’s been playing beach volleyball for years.  Darren began playing volleyball at a competitive level since 1998.  Cutting his teeth on beach/sand volleyball while also playing club volleyball at the University of San Diego before returning to the Augusta, GA area.  He has played numerous outdoor tournaments at an Open level, including Columbia: AVP, Clash and Crown, EEVB, and Fudpuckers events.  Personal highlights are having played against or with Olympians Jose Loiola, Ricci Luyties, Alan Alan, and Phil Dalhausser.

By: Darren Baker

Looking at the statistics of doubles beach volleyball one might say to me: “But Darren, look at the number of blocks vs number of championships in last season’s AVP tour.  The top two blockers, Phil had 2.11 blocks per game and Sean had 1.71 blocks per game this translated into nine (9) championships, first on tour, and Hyden-Scott had four (4) championships second on tour.  You said that this isn’t important in DRILL Continue Reading

If anyone would like to rub in how great this past weekend was in Manhattan Beach with the AVP and the 6 Man Tournament, please do…I unfortunately wasn’t there!

It’s a cold rainy Saturday here in the North. I’ve got some time indoors to kill, so I decided to play armchair coach today. I like that the AVP/BVB Info is posting stats per set online. I can further breakdown and analyze your game. Here are my thoughts based on the stats… Continue Reading

Paul Mitchell is offering a one year sponsorship for AVP Players! Continue Reading

AVP TV Live from Riverside

Saturday: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. 7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Sunday: 9:30 a.m. to competition end (approximately 5 p.m.)

Women’s Final: 2:30 p.m. Men’s Final: 4 p.m.

http://www.avp.com/News/2009/04/Riverside-Streaming.aspx