Anyone remember the IVA?

[Phaedrus]

It was a pro-volleyball league from the 1970's. Funded by the largess of Wilt Chamberlain.

Wolfgang's post brought back memories of that league. I still have a Denver Comets t-shirt from those days. I was in HS then and I went to a couple of matches. Some rules:

1) it was coed, you had to have at least two women on the floor, they usually played right and left back.
2) No rotation, front row played only front row, back row played only back row. I think you still rotated serves though.
3) Wilt played for the San Diego Conquistadors, and you never, ever served Wilt, he is just there to hit.

I know that John Kessel, USAV Director of Grass Roots played on the Comet's. Setter I think. I saw Stan Gosciniak, probably the best passer defender of all time play against the Comets. I don't remember who else played.

The Denver team folded when the owners got busted for laundering drug money through the franchise, the leagues folded PDQ after that.

[bunnywailer]

I wonder how many of those 10,000 women Wilt banged while he was on tour with the IVA?

[Phaedrus]

Well, this was the crazy seventies. I wouldn't want to predict but I would guess quite a bit. But a small percentage of 10,000 is quite a bit.

[woody]

The IVA? I know it well. Actually Stan Gracianiak(sp?) was never just a passer defense-man - although he was great on D. He was one of the world's greatest setters of all time. Along with Skorak(sp?), and then 21 year old Voitovich(sp?), they led Poland to a five-game, five-hour upset of #1 Soviet Union in the Gold Medal match in Montreal, 1976 Olympics. There was another player from Poland who also played in the IVA. He was short and stocky, and could jump like a Samoan. He was nicknamed The Ball. Gracianiak, Skorak, and The Ball played in the IVA and taught us all many lessons about elite international volleyball.

Of all the setters I've seen Gracianiak was the most deceptive. He would jump up to receive the pass, turn and look the middle blocker in the eye, freeze one way, juke another, and flip the ball thirty feet on a line with just his wrists. Then when you came back down after being faked out he'd still be looking at you and he'd just smile. He was also one of the original "deep dishers." Sometimes he'd jump up and move his hands as if he was setting the quick then deep dish back down and set a delayed quick or a combination. Once he got you guessing he'd have you hopping around all night.

Many folks credit the IVA with laying the foundation for America's improved understanding of blocking in the 80's. Our guys had to stay at the net all night and face Gracianiak, Dodge Parker, Valdez of Mexico, and Babetto of Brazil, among other great setters. And they got to block along side and against the great Skorak. And don't forget Garth Pischke of Canada, the highest jumping white guy ever. He was three time player of the year in the IVA.

The other American's weren't too shabby either. You had Miles Pabst, John Stanley, John Roberts, and others. It was a lot of fun playing in that league and they were ahead of their time. They played with a colored ball so the fans could see it better. The ball was also soft to promote more digs and rallies. They called everything looser, no netting with your hair or ticky-tack calls. It was no harm no foul. And once a rally got started the refs swallowed their whistles.

We should forget all this Libero stuff and go to fixed position volleyball with the IVA format. Get the big folks at the net and the great diggers in the back row. You still rotate the serve but you have the option to run up to the net to block. Back row players can still hit out of the back row so you could have a five-hitter attack system.

The Denver Comets fiasco was as funny as it was tragic. All that mountain drug money being laundered through an upstart pro volleyball league headed by an NBA legend. The feds waited until a home game and then waited until it started to raid the team owners in the arena. What panache? By the way, what was the name of that old arena in downtown Denver? I remember it as being a great volleyball venue.

[Phaedrus]

Woody, I have to have a beer with YOU! ;D

I was a junior in high school at the time and I didn't know squat about volleyball. I got to know Kessel much later when I went to one of his adult players camps with Gold Medal. He mentioned the IVA and I freaked! I brought the t-shirt with me one year to JO's and we both had a nice chuckle about it. I never saw Gosciniak set, only play D. It was pretty cool, he had enough of the two other defenders the night I saw him, so he sent them up to the 3 meter line and told them to stay there to pick up tips. He dug the entire court by himself. It was amazing.

I think it was the Auditorium Arena. Where the Denver Rockets played in the ABA with the red, white, and blue basketball. McNichols came after that, and now they have an even newer arena. I suddenly feel really old.

[Swanee]

phaedrus and woody,

I don't think all of your facts are quite correct about the IVA but you are correct that it was an absolutely incredible league! The international talent was unbelievably good. I was lucky enough to be on some of those teams over the years. I remember one time at practice when Stan Gosciniak set a ball while lying on his back with his legs tucked up to his chest. He liked to mess around like that all the time. He was fun to watch, let alone play with.

I don't believe that Wilt had much to do with the financial backing in the league. The first 2 years in San Diego the Breakers (not Conquistadors) were actually owned by Barry Gordy of Motown fame (hence the purple and yellow uniforms). Diana Ross was even in attendance at one of the matches played at the San Diego sports arena.

Wilt was a big fan draw but he wasn't near as good as the other male players on the court. The other teams did try to serve him all the time but the girl playing next to him passed every ball (he could not pass well). The league wanted to showcase Wilt in a positive way of course. Wilt only occasionally practiced with the team and didn't play in all matches during the season. He was a huge man and he sweated more than any player I had ever seen.

Some of the best players from that time period IMO were Gosciniak, Ed Skorek, Jon Stanley (what a blocker!), Mary Jo Peppler (incredible athlete and competitor), Scott English (toughest serve in the IVA), Dodge Parker (greatest all time guy...died so young), Bebeto de Frietas, Garth Pischke, Luiz Eymard and Jose Luis Garcia (hardest hitter in the IVA). These are just a few of the greats that played. Most of the players were at an elite level and there was not much depth on a team. However, they were paid little compared to most pro athletes, but the people that played loved the game! The heckling from the fans in various arenas was intense (especially in Tucson, El Paso and Denver). Sometimes the players would run into the crowd and get in someone's face that had been especially loud.

Interesting post about the Denver Comets illegal activities. I wonder how that all played out. John Kessel probably knows the scoop on that.

[woody]

You got my attention because I also played in the IVA. You're right about Wilt. He was a figurehead type President or Commissioner or whatever he was. My team once played an all-star team with him on it in Houston. Ten thousand fans. Big guy. I got to play against him on the beach at the Sorrento Open. He couldn't hit very hard but he hit such a steep angle it didn't have to be hard. But indoors he was a great blocker. When I was in High School I saw an exhibition match at OCC, I believe it was June 1974, with Wilt's Big Dippers versus O Club, or the Chart House Guys or someone like that. BigDip had Wilt left side, Selznick setting, Kurt Kilgor I think hitting right and I don't remember the fourth. I think I was just about the only person in the stands. It was the first real volleyball match I ever saw in person.

Mary Jo Peppler was a great athlete but was not very good in the IVA. She insisted on playing at the net some and got killed. As a tall female player and a great star she couldn't play back row and didn't like the subservient aspect of it. Still though, a great player.

Interesting you mention Scott English. He was a basketball player at UTEP I think and learned to play volleyball with the Sol. I don't remember his serve being exceptionally tough but I do remember him being a good middle blocker and a great middle hitter. Then again my memory is aging. He played on a pretty good team once with Tom Read and Lino De Mello Gama (sp?), a real wild child from Brazil.

I do remember Stan Gosciniak making the girls play up and taking the back row. Speaking of the girls I thought the OC Stars had the best pair with Robyn Ervin and I can't remember the name of the other.

I remember the Tucson Sky played at Catalina High School? Nice gym. I also remember the rowdy crowds in Denver and Santa Barbara. The Stars played at Fountain Valley High School one year. Not so rowdy crowds in Seattle but a fun city to visit. They used to do this contest up there of serving into the trunk of a taxicab. If the ball stayed in you won some prize.

Anyway, it was a very fun league and type of volleyball. Lots of great athletes, very competitive, unique with the format, scoring system, and being co-ed. I'd love to see that format return.

[Phaedrus]

swanee said:

phaedrus and woody,

I don't think all of your facts are quite correct about the IVA but you are correct that it was an absolutely incredible league!

I don't believe that Wilt had much to do with the financial backing in the league.

Wilt was a big fan draw but he wasn't near as good as the other male players on the court. The other teams did try to serve him all the time but the girl playing next to him passed every ball (he could not pass well). The league wanted to showcase Wilt in a positive way of course. Wilt only occasionally practiced with the team and didn't play in all matches during the season. He was a huge man and he sweated more than any player I had ever seen.


Interesting post about the Denver Comets illegal activities. I wonder how that all played out. John Kessel probably knows the scoop on that.

Actually the stuff about Wilt came from Kessel. He was the one who made the mistake of serving Wilt once.

[woody]

We were told not to serve Wilt. In our match in Houston he blocked me straight down. The crowd went nuts. I remember it was like hitting in to two big catcher's mits. The ref called a timeout and turned to watch the reply on the jumbo-tron. The players all just stood on the court and looked at the replay along with everyone else and they all went nuts again. The next serve our setter went back to me so I acted like I was going to really hit the $#&^ out of it and dinked (we used to call tips dinks) over the top of him... it was like an 11' dink... a sky dink. Crowd laughed. Wilt started waving at me like Mohamed Ali... come on, hit it. Good times.

[bunnywailer]

Alright, come clean. Any of you former IVA guys get any screen time in "Spiker"?

Kessel had a wicked floater back in da day. Probably still does.

[Bigspike]

Yeah, fond memories of the IVA in Los Angeles in the late 70's . I remember seeing Stan Gosciniak (of Poland) playing with the Los Angeles Stars as a defensive specialist. He had the most incredible body control of any volleyball player I have ever seen. Simply jaw-dropping. He would make an incredible flying dive for the ball and then immediately get back up on his feet in one fluid motion, seemingly without even touching his hands to the floor. I only saw him play defense, but I understand that there was only one question about Gosciniak at that time and that was was he the best defensive player in the world or the best setter in the world. He was probably both.

One question that somebody might answer for me; I saw the Los Angeles Stars play several times somewhere in Redondo Beach, Calif. Was this at Redondo Union High School or some other venue in that town? My memory fails me.

Thanks!!

[Swanee]

bigspike - I remember that gym too but I can't remember exactly where it was. That had to be the first year of the league in 1975. It could have been El Camino College also.

I wonder how many people know that Al Scates also coached a team in the IVA. It was in 1977 in El Paso, Texas. That was the place where the announcer would get the fans going by riding a pony on a stick (what were those things called?) around the sports arena. Most of the crowd would be drunk and LOUD. They also had "the Caveman" Lino de Melo Gama on that team who was quite a personality. I think that is one of the things that made that league so interesting to pure volleyball fans...the players were entertaining and remarkably skilled. Throw in the coed aspect and it made for a great format.

Woody - I'm sure we know each other because everyone knew everyone back then. Volleyball was still a relatively small sport in the seventies. Other OC Stars' girls besides Robin were Hilary Johnson and Mary Jane Smith (both excellent passers and beach players). I agree somewhat with your assessment of Mary Jo Peppler in that she played a lesser role than playing with strictly women. She didn't play front row but she did set on the Phoenix Heat. The rules allowed her to hit in that position (females could hit from anywhere) even though she was technically a backrow player. That gave her team a 4th hitter option when the pass was on the net. She was a tall lefty so she got lots of kills hitting on two. I don't think she really liked playing in the IVA all that much though.

I wish they could get a pro league going again, male or female but I know it's a pipe dream. The fan interest would just not be big enough to carry it financially. I would also like to see more TV coverage.

[woody]

This has to be one of the better discussion topics I've seen. Thanks to you all for the memories.

Here's my idea for a new pro league. They should model it after the World Team Tennis format. Two men and two women on a team. The first two matches, for example, would be a women's doubles and a reverse co-ed. After halftime they'd raise the net and have a co-ed and men's doubles. The fifth game (set) would be a four on four co-ed. They would use the small AVP size court to promote rallies. IVA style rules in the fours - no rotations - only the serve.

Each player would play three games. Besides each team's overall win loss record, each of the five separate game formats would have its own won/loss record. So a woman player, for example, could be ranked #1 in Women's doubles, co-ed or reverse, and fours. That way even if a four-person team is not doing well they can still have one or two "teams" in contention for something.

Each road trip would be two nights to help save travel costs. And I forgot to mention matches would be played on sand courts. Deeper the better. Imagine Misty's team playing Karch's team or Keri's team? Might also be a good format for older player's with skills and name recognition to still compete.

Well? Dumb idea? Good idea? Let me have it?

[woody]

Swanee... sorry, forgot to reply. Yes we probably know each other. Thanks for all the clarifications as my memory is fading. I just remember all the good times.

I cannot remember where the Stars played before Fountain Valley High School in 1978. Do you remember the Winston League? They played at the Anaheim Convention Center. Imagine a cigarette sponsor for volleyball. How times have changed.

And the CAVEMAN! Who can forget? He used to go nuts. Looked like Che Guevera(sp?). There were so many characters in that league. I remember one night a player yelling at the ref and the ref told him to #$%^-off. We all just stopped in our tracks for a moment then started howling. The foreign players and fans didn't know what was going on. Refs should do that more often.

That would make a good trivia question; name something you never hear from a ref? Now that's yellow card.

Yeah, Scates coached at El Paso, Peppler coached at El Paso, Tom Read player-coached at El Paso (almost won a championship), and Bill Neville coached at El Paso. www.nevillizms.com/ Lots of coaches at El Paso.

[VBCOACH]

woody said:

This has to be one of the better discussion topics I've seen. Thanks to you all for the memories.

Here's my idea for a new pro league. They should model it after the World Team Tennis format. Two men and two women on a team. The first two matches, for example, would be a women's doubles and a reverse co-ed. After halftime they'd raise the net and have a co-ed and men's doubles. The fifth game (set) would be a four on four co-ed. They would use the small AVP size court to promote rallies. IVA style rules in the fours - no rotations - only the serve.

Each player would play three games. Besides each team's overall win loss record, each of the five separate game formats would have its own won/loss record. So a woman player, for example, could be ranked #1 in Women's doubles, co-ed or reverse, and fours. That way even if a four-person team is not doing well they can still have one or two "teams" in contention for something.

Each road trip would be two nights to help save travel costs. And I forgot to mention matches would be played on sand courts. Deeper the better. Imagine Misty's team playing Karch's team or Keri's team? Might also be a good format for older player's with skills and name recognition to still compete.

Well? Dumb idea? Good idea? Let me have it?

How do you promote volleyball by playing a game that is not volleyball?