Big fan....I see the team of April & Alix As tons of potential! This should be the #1 team going into Toyko for the USA 🇺🇸 Women....
Yes...Kerri & Nicole are attempting a run a Tokyo last I knew...Although too many cards stacked against them imo....KW’s Shoulder, Kerri doesn’t have the right partner....She needed to go with a young dynamic up & comer & has failed to land one...I don’t even think age is a factor....But as many are quick to point out...Very hard to see a pair of 42 year olds being one of the two teams....Wouldn’t be surprised to see them in Fort Lauderdale at end on Feb.. Although all is quiet 🤫 on Kerri’s Social Media these days, which is usually not the case...So Maybe she is rethinking her future plans. Time will tell.
Thanks for the reply. I follow the AVP when it is going and the college beach game. The international game holds interest especially when it is televised.
There's nothing going on in Women's VB right now, why don't you read a thread or 2?
Do you know if Kerri Walsh is going for 2020 Tokyo or is she retired?
Big fan....I see the team of April & Alix As tons of potential! This should be the #1 team going into Toyko for the USA 🇺🇸 Women....
Yes...Kerri & Nicole are attempting a run a Tokyo last I knew...Although too many cards stacked against them imo....KW’s Shoulder, Kerri doesn’t have the right partner....She needed to go with a young dynamic up & comer & has failed to land one...I don’t even think age is a factor....But as many are quick to point out...Very hard to see a pair of 42 year olds being one of the two teams....Wouldn’t be surprised to see them in Fort Lauderdale at end on Feb.. Although all is quiet 🤫 on Kerri’s Social Media these days, which is usually not the case...So Maybe she is rethinking her future plans. Time will tell.
Dont see Kerri and Nicole making it, but a lot of stuff can happen. If Alix or Kelly gets hurt at a key point in qualification or if Alix just cant hold up her end - or Kelly can't, Kerri could be next in line for either. Likewise if some dynamic young defender emerges.
I dont think her shoulder will hold up but if it does she is still a contender to win given the right partner. That partner is probably not Nicole though
2020 VT Fantasy Beach Champion, 2021 MBO Fantasy Beach Champion, 2022 VT Fantasy Champion*
Barring any injury I will certainly agree with Goudey!! I’d like to see KW make it again but I also want the two best teams to to represent the USA. If her & Nicole earn one of those spots than awesome. I can’t see them being able to get it done though. Three years is a long time. Can’t wait for the season to start!!!!
By the way, what do you guys think of Betsi Flint and Kelley Larsen? They want to, but I don’t think they’ll make it. Same goes for Brit and Em Day. Domestically they can dominate, but not internationally.
There must be something that April sees in Alix for her to announce her as her Olympic partner without even having played an official tournament. But I’m excited to see what this team has ahead of them (as well as what they decide their #teamname to be).
Well...April, Alix & Jen for that matter are certainly portraying this partnership going all the way to Tokyo. From all indications, not sure why it wouldn’t. Haven’t seen much of Alix but it certainly appears she could be the real deal. She has 3 years to develop into a major force at the net and the caliber blocker April needs to make her job a little easier back there. Will she be able to touch the amount of balls that KW did in order for April to run them down? I think she has a lot of potential. I just want our teams to get back to the top of the podium again. That would be awesome. I’m not talking just Olympics...I’m talking getting back to being a dominant force on the World Tour.
I want to give some love to Brit and Emily, but although those two have been the top team domestically it oddly is not translating to international success. I think Summer could make an olympic run, but not with Brooke. Summer Sweat were the best second place team on the AVP last year, but I doubt they will repeat that success this upcoming season. I darn sure don't want another dog and pony show in 2020, Rio was enough for me. I would like to see Kelly Reeves or Betsy Flint with Summer Ross, or is that a terrible idea?
I really think what we’re starting to witness is the World has gotten amazingly better at this game and very quickly. It used to be just the Brazilians & the Americans. Now the Germans, Canadians, The Swiss, the Chinese have all caught on. I’m one to think that age really doesn’t matter. If you have the skills, you have the skills. (Maybe just a little slower at them 😛) . However for those that do, just look at the ages of some of our Women attempting 2020...Kerri (39), April (35), Brittany (36?), Nicole (38), and than after that a bunch of youngsters that are pretty much unproven internationally. The good news is that these Youngsters have time to gel before they get their shot at this sports biggest prize...An Olympic Gold Medal!
Well...April, Alix & Jen for that matter are certainly portraying this partnership going all the way to Tokyo. From all indications, not sure why it wouldn’t. Haven’t seen much of Alix but it certainly appears she could be the real deal. She has 3 years to develop into a major force at the net and the caliber blocker April needs to make her job a little easier back there. Will she be able to touch the amount of balls that KW did in order for April to run them down? I think she has a lot of potential. I just want our teams to get back to the top of the podium again. That would be awesome. I’m not talking just Olympics...I’m talking getting back to being a dominant force on the World Tour.
I agree with you, USA women’s had no gold medals in the big events. Only Kelley Larsen and Betsi Flint won two gold medals for the 2* events.
KW shot herself in the foot by alienating herself from USA beach by listening to L.A. and taking on the AVP, imho. She will never play another game in an AVP event. A truly sad swansong. Some say that is her tremendous ego to be in charge, others just plain stupidity. Meanwhile, The Jennings brand is a long road to profits.
BVB is now more fragmented in the USA than ever before which is killing large marketing opportunities for everyone. No one with a well funded sports marketing budget wants to risk this divisive market. It just has zero focus and no legs. We can thank K.W., L.A., S.S. and partially USAV for this, imho. The old management guard resists change and spending their resources funding a wannabe indoor league that is toast before it will ever build a fan base. 70-80% of the rosters weren't even starters in the college game.
One reason the other countries are rising while USAV falls is the organization themselves. Adidas sponsors numerous indoor players and zero beach players, nice sponsorship USAV! Foreign teams are well managed, funded with coaches, scouts, film managers, trainers, etc, while our individual teams battle with little funds to provide themselves with technology and critical, timely information, especially between matches while on the road. It's great to have individual team freedoms to complete but it seems to weaken our national prospects v. the collective efforts of other national bodies.
I really like the A/A partnership. Alix can learn from the best and Jen might surprise people, add in her husband helping and there is some winning brain trust on their side. However, she had better hit the gym and train big time because she has almost zero muscles geared to playing on the beach with a more model like body than beach titan at this moment in her career. This joining also free's C&H to refocus without worrying about someone breaking up their partnership, and their points will help earn them better seedings while A&A will have to battle early on. If KC learns how to train and be discipline like a pro athlete, she will emerge as one of the best Big's of all time, imho.
With the college game feeding growth, USAV would be better off investing in this young crop of athletes and letting the old guard win if they can. AVP has already seemed to figure this formula out and is getting behind marketing the newbies.
It will certainly all get sorted out in the sand, but behind the scenes, individuals with tremendous ego's & deep connections continue to weaken the entire landscape for their own personal gains.
It has only taken only a few short years for the profiteers and wannabe experts to turn the emerging youth game into something that rivals the money grabbers on the indoor side of volleyball. I would hate to be a parent of a youth trying to navigate this conundrum with a limited budget.
Forecasting the Olympics seems extremely premature now. In order to assume its April/Alix and Kelly/Sara we have to assume:
1) Alix improves to an incredible degree. 2) April continues to be a top player even as her biggest weakness (speed) is the one most affected by age and her biggest strength (size as a defender) becomes less of an advantage as other teams get bigger and more athletic 3) Alix and April are able to get along and gel as a team 4) Neither get injured 5) Sara and Kelly, who have accomplished nothing internationally, both improve by at least 25-40% 6) Sara continues to prioritize pajama parties and BFFness over the massive cash flow and attention that comes with being Kerri's partner. 7) Sara continues to be willing to experience the losing that comes with developing ground up, rather than simply jumping to the next level by getting a better partner. 8) Kelly does the same 9) Summer Ross doesn't continue to improve
I would say the chances of our next Olympic team being those four players in that configuration are at best 30%.
Oh and the focus on a lousy tournament with a crummy structure that happens every four years continues to be stupid
2020 VT Fantasy Beach Champion, 2021 MBO Fantasy Beach Champion, 2022 VT Fantasy Champion*
"KW shot herself in the foot by alienating herself from USA beach by listening to L.A. and taking on the AVP, imho. She will never play another game in an AVP event. A truly sad swansong."
Unfortunately I have to agree with that cold somber statement. It started with the ridiculous boycott in Chicago over petty bs that turned out to be an extremely popular rule change.
"I would say the chances of our next Olympic team being those four players in that configuration are at best 30%."
Those are the best odds I've had in a long, long time! I agree with what you say though, especially #5 Sara and Kelly must improve. However, I think they will. And I like #9.. After last year I am on the Summer Ross bandwagon. Of course #4 can happen to anyone, anytime. At least on the women's side there is some young talent coming into the league to get excited about and one can have fun speculating and there is an optimism there. On the Men's side I am afraid to think about the days without Phil... its come down to split blocking on the AVP to keep him from getting bored.