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Post by beachman on Aug 30, 2004 12:10:56 GMT -5
Article today about the men's olympic team wanting to leave Colorado Springs.....altitude makes the balls react much differently apparently.....I am sure that there are some of the same problems with the women's game,,,,,of course, as I have been saying all along there are "other" problems there as well as I know that the women want out as well.....Southern California is where they both want to be!  |
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Post by StanfordFan on Aug 30, 2004 12:23:09 GMT -5
So what's standing in the way? I suppose that's somewhat of a cavalier question, but other than facilities (which I'm sure can be arranged without that much difficulty), what keeps the training center in Colorado Springs? I suppose cost of living is one thing.
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Post by sistahsledge on Aug 30, 2004 12:49:01 GMT -5
In Colorado Springs, the nat'l team shares training facilities, housing, cafeteria, etc. with all the other USOC sports. Building or leasing those kind of facilities in So. Cal. would probably be very expensive for USAV.
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 30, 2004 12:49:47 GMT -5
So what's standing in the way? I suppose that's somewhat of a cavalier question, but other than facilities (which I'm sure can be arranged without that much difficulty), what keeps the training center in Colorado Springs? I suppose cost of living is one thing. Why would USA Volleyball, already strapped for money and resources, shell out more money for a separate training facility in SoCal when the USOTC in C. Springs has 3 practice gyms, dormitories, and a cafeteria to house the athletes? The Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA has dorms and a cafeteria, but no gyms to practice in. |
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Post by sistahsledge on Aug 30, 2004 12:55:11 GMT -5
The Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA has dorms and a cafeteria, but no gyms to practice in. An OTC with no gym? Sounds more like a housing project than a training center. Is this facility still under construction? |
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Post by beachman on Aug 30, 2004 12:56:16 GMT -5
I think that money IS the problem. USA Volleyball has NONE and unless they find a city willing to build them a facility(at no cost to USA Volleyball) they still have to figure out how to come up with the money for the operating costs. The point here is that they want out of Colorado Springs(cost of living ain't that cheap there folks, I know), the dilemma is that they have NO MONEY to go anywhere else!
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 30, 2004 13:00:18 GMT -5
An OTC with no gym? Sounds more like a housing project than a training center. Is this facility still under construction? The ARCO center in Chula Vista has a track and a lake, I believe the other sports such as archery, rowing, and pole vaulting have their training center there. |
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 30, 2004 13:02:17 GMT -5
I think that money IS the problem. USA Volleyball has NONE and unless they find a city willing to build them a facility(at no cost to USA Volleyball) they still have to figure out how to come up with the money for the operating costs. The point here is that they want out of Colorado Springs(cost of living ain't that cheap there folks, I know), the dilemma is that they have NO MONEY to go anywhere else! I live in C. Springs. I have also lived in SoCal. The cost of living IS significantly lower. Many of the older, married players on the team have bought homes here in C. Springs. They would never be able to afford comparable-sized homes anywhere near a training facility built in Anaheim. |
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Post by roofed! on Aug 30, 2004 14:18:22 GMT -5
An article on the same issue appeared on USA Today. Below is part of the article: www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/athens/volleyball/2004-08-29-mens-indoor-medal_x.htmAt these Olympics, some of the U.S. players were more outspoken than ever about their desire to move the program back to California, where it was based until a 1997 move to Colorado Springs. When the move was made, coaches and officials underestimated the difference training at altitude would make in their sport. Beal is convinced the ball travels 10-15% further at their training headquarters than it does at sea level, where most major competitions take place. As a result, Beal says, his servers and passers must constantly compensate. Also, some of the players believe it would be easier to get and keep the best U.S. indoor players on the national team if the program were based in California, where most of the top players either grew up or attended college. As for Beal, who put the U.S. men on the map by coaching them to a gold medal in 1984, his contract is up at the end of the year. He'd like to stay involved with the U.S. volleyball federation but says, "I think it's time for somebody else to coach." Who that might be, and where the team will train, are questions that couldn't be answered in Athens. |
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Post by Charlie on Aug 30, 2004 14:35:56 GMT -5
An OTC with no gym? Sounds more like a housing project than a training center. Is this facility still under construction? Long story. Short version: A gym was slated to be built there. The late Jim Coleman did much to make this happen and worked on the plans. Enter John Carroll, new Exec Dir of USAV at the time. He came to San Diego to visit, refused to commit USAV to the OTC in Chula Vista (south San Diego), and when fundraising came to a screeching halt in the recession of 1993, the gym was cut from the plans to get the budget down. I know this for a fact as I was present when John Carroll came and visited the OTC site, and I was on the board of the Foundation that built the OTC here. |
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Post by sistahsledge on Aug 30, 2004 14:46:43 GMT -5
An article on the same issue appeared on USA Today. Below is part of the article: www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/athens/volleyball/2004-08-29-mens-indoor-medal_x.htmAs for Beal, who put the U.S. men on the map by coaching them to a gold medal in 1984, his contract is up at the end of the year. He'd like to stay involved with the U.S. volleyball federation but says, "I think it's time for somebody else to coach." Who that might be, and where the team will train, are questions that couldn't be answered in Athens. Anyone know if Toshi has made a dicision yet whether to stay with the Nat'l Team? |
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 30, 2004 16:08:45 GMT -5
My last take on this whole "move the team back to SoCal" issue.
The National Team programs are no longer a year-round training program anyway. Of all the athletes who were housed at the USOTC here in C. Springs over the past year and trained during the down periods, very few actually made the Olympic roster. The majority of the rosters were made up of athletes who were gone during the professional seasons overseas and only rejoined the squads about 4-5 months before the Olympics. So USAV and the USOC wasted alot of money feeding and housing athletes who didn't make the squad anyway.
So...go ahead and move back to SoCal if that's what all these spoiled-brat athletes want. But, provide no housing and no per diem for any of them while the team is in training. Sure, go ahead and pay them the salary that is negiotiated - but that's it. Spend the money you would have used to put these athletes in dorms and feed them for all those months in C. Springs on the training facility instead. But if these whiners want to go back to SoCal so bad, then let them live off the economy and see how much they like that.
As for the altitude affecting the ball flight - that's a bunch of crap. Jump serve going long? Hello, back up a few feet on your takeoff and serve from there. It only takes a few sessions to get readjusted to sea level anyway, and both squads had ample time. The USA Men played in a pre-Olympic tournament the weeks before Athens, and the USA women actually did off-site training someplace in country the week before the tournament.
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Post by sistahsledge on Aug 30, 2004 17:14:06 GMT -5
My last take on this whole "move the team back to SoCal" issue. So USAV and the USOC wasted alot of money feeding and housing athletes who didn't make the squad anyway. So...go ahead and move back to SoCal if that's what all these spoiled-brat athletes want. But, provide no housing and no per diem for any of them while the team is in training. Sure, go ahead and pay them the salary that is negiotiated - but that's it. Wait a doggone minute here! So these players get free room and board, training facilities, world-class coaching, AND a salary? That seems pretty cush compared to athlete's of other sports who have to fund their own training, coaching, equipment, etc. Since when did volleyball players get the NBA attitude? I can see why the USOC is hesitant to throw more money at them. |
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Post by beachman on Aug 30, 2004 18:04:48 GMT -5
Wait a doggone minute here! So these players get free room and board, training facilities, world-class coaching, AND a salary? That seems pretty cush compared to athlete's of other sports who have to fund their own training, coaching, equipment, etc. Since when did volleyball players get the NBA attitude? I can see why the USOC is hesitant to throw more money at them. Yeah man, wait a dog gone minute here.....take em out to the wood pile and beat the %*$# out of em! |
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Post by maka_ala on Aug 31, 2004 11:25:26 GMT -5
only in america people use excuses for everything... man if you suck then u suck.... either live with it or do something about it. altitude affecting balls? hahahahahaha give me a break!
that's like saying "i actually voted for the 87 billion dollars to support the war before i voted against it" lmao
you wonder where some of these young americans learn from..lol
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