Post by VBCOACH on Jul 25, 2010 15:07:12 GMT -5
July 25, 2010
BY LARRY HAMEL lhamel@suntimes.com
The AVP beach-volleyball tour is in dire financial difficulty and might cancel the remainder of its 2010 season after the tournament in Long Beach, Calif., this weekend, several sources told the Sun-Times.
One of the potential casualties would be the Tour Championship event scheduled for Aug. 27-29 at Oak Street Beach.
Sources said that a major investor in America's showcase beach-volleyball series has bolted and that the tour hasn't received money promised by its sponsors. It's said to be ''50-50'' whether the AVP will be solvent enough to hold the five tournaments in jeopardy -- in San Francisco, Manhattan Beach (Calif.), Chicago, Cincinnati and Hermosa Beach (Calif.).
Word circulating at the Long Beach event on Saturday was that the tour did not have enough funds to pay the players' prize money for the remaining stops and that the players had not been paid for the last two tournaments. Many teams are said to be looking to play on the international FIVB tour, despite the ''country quota'' that limits Americans to no more than four teams in that series' main draw.
A decision on the AVP's future apparently will be made during the first week of August. Sources indicated the AVP would hold all of the scheduled events or none, even though the tradition-rich Manhattan Beach stop is considered the granddaddy of all beach-volleyball tournaments.
The AVP's financial trouble has worsened even though American teams -- Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers on the men's side and Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor on the women's -- won both beach-volleyball gold medals in the Beijing Olympics.
BY LARRY HAMEL lhamel@suntimes.com
The AVP beach-volleyball tour is in dire financial difficulty and might cancel the remainder of its 2010 season after the tournament in Long Beach, Calif., this weekend, several sources told the Sun-Times.
One of the potential casualties would be the Tour Championship event scheduled for Aug. 27-29 at Oak Street Beach.
Sources said that a major investor in America's showcase beach-volleyball series has bolted and that the tour hasn't received money promised by its sponsors. It's said to be ''50-50'' whether the AVP will be solvent enough to hold the five tournaments in jeopardy -- in San Francisco, Manhattan Beach (Calif.), Chicago, Cincinnati and Hermosa Beach (Calif.).
Word circulating at the Long Beach event on Saturday was that the tour did not have enough funds to pay the players' prize money for the remaining stops and that the players had not been paid for the last two tournaments. Many teams are said to be looking to play on the international FIVB tour, despite the ''country quota'' that limits Americans to no more than four teams in that series' main draw.
A decision on the AVP's future apparently will be made during the first week of August. Sources indicated the AVP would hold all of the scheduled events or none, even though the tradition-rich Manhattan Beach stop is considered the granddaddy of all beach-volleyball tournaments.
The AVP's financial trouble has worsened even though American teams -- Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers on the men's side and Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor on the women's -- won both beach-volleyball gold medals in the Beijing Olympics.