VLA announces live volleyball event July 4 weekend

[rstclaire1]

The Volleyball League of America has announced the VLA Kickoff Classic will be played next weekend, July 3-5, at the Ball Sports Academy (Lloy Ball's gym) in northeast Indiana.  Four teams, ten matches total, all live streamed for free on the VLA YouTube channel.  Men's professional volleyball is here in the US and you can help its growth just by following the league (www.instagram.com/vlavolleyball/) and tuning in to watch next weekend!

Match Schedule:

Friday July 3:
9 AM EST - Phoenix Ascension (www.instagram.com/ascension_volleyball/) vs. Indiana Team Pineapple (www.instagram.com/teampineapplevbc/)
12 PM EST - Chicago Icemen (www.instagram.com/chicago_icemen_vla/) vs. New York Legion (www.instagram.com/teamlvc_vla/)
3 PM EST - Phoenix Ascension vs. New York Legion
6 PM EST - Indiana Team Pineapple vs. Chicago Icemen

Saturday July 4:
9 AM EST - Indiana Team Pineapple vs. New York Legion
12 PM EST - Phoenix Ascension vs. Chicago Icemen
3 PM EST - Semifinal 1 - 1st seed vs. 4th seed

Sunday July 5:
11 AM EST - Semifinal 2 - 2nd seed vs. 3rd seed
2 PM EST - Bronze medal match
5 PM EST - Gold medal match

Several big names will be there playing, to name a few:

Chicago - Dave Wieczorek (Pepperdine, first team all-American), Mark Jones (George Mason, EIVA co-POY), Peter Jasaitis (Loyola, 2014 NCAA Champion)
Indiana - Lloy Ball (Olympic Gold Medalist), Bruno Amorim (Brazilian indoor/beach player)
New York - Cody Kessel (Princeton, second team all-American), Jordan Varee (Saint Francis), Blake Leeson (Ohio State, 2016-2017 NCAA Champion)
Phoenix - Joe Kauliakamoa (BYU), Srdj Nadazdin (Long Beach St)

Every match will be live streamed for free on the VLA YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/channel/UCyfo_6gkwXKdRWO5_eD4Q6w) and will be available right away on demand after each match.

Also check out the VLA's podcast series, The Deep Corner, on YouTube or audio versions wherever you get your podcasts.  Today's episode features Cody Kessel, other guests include Lloy Ball, Mike Marshman, Eric Martin, Zach Melcher, and several more.

Support the growth of professional men's volleyball stateside by following all the instagram links here and subscribing to the VLA YouTube channel.  We need as many eyes on next weekend's matches as possible, please share it with the people in your volleyball circles.  Not nearly enough people know this league exists yet, there's a lot everyone here on the boards can do to help.

[thecannon69]

This is irresponsible.

[digs4days]

Jun 26, 2020 14:13:35 GMT -5 thecannon69 said:

This is irresponsible.

Keep crying Karen

[Hawk Attack]

Sooo they being paid now?

[midwestvball1]

The US has a men's pro league? Hahaha. This is called an adult tournament.

I would be more afraid of getting Covid-19 at the after parties each night, not getting it during the event. No one is going to go to Indiana to watch this anyways. Lets be honest it is over 4th of July weekend. Watch online, while drinking a beer, and blowing your hand off with fireworks. That is the goal.

I mean solid marketing plan. 1 week out. And this is why we won't have a league in the US. The women's league starting up will fail as well.

[akbar]

Indiana is the next hotspot.

[rstclaire1]

Jun 26, 2020 17:39:37 GMT -5 midwestvball1 said:

The US has a men's pro league? Hahaha. This is called an adult tournament.

I would be more afraid of getting Covid-19 at the after parties each night, not getting it during the event. No one is going to go to Indiana to watch this anyways. Lets be honest it is over 4th of July weekend. Watch online, while drinking a beer, and blowing your hand off with fireworks. That is the goal.

I mean solid marketing plan. 1 week out. And this is why we won't have a league in the US. The women's league starting up will fail as well.

Yes, this is a weekend tournament, not a part of the league's regular season.

Correct, nobody's going to Indiana to watch this, because spectators aren't allowed during the pandemic.

This was announced weeks ago, I just posted it on the boards the other day.

The league just needs to put volleyball out on the floor for the purposes of having content to use for marketing.  We were ready to play a full regular season at several huge events before the pandemic hit.  This isn't a substitute for that, we just need video content of actual volleyball to get us to next year when we can run a full season.

Why is everyone on the boards so convinced that any attempt at professional volleyball will fail?  More specifically, why does it seem like everyone WANTS it to fail?  The least you can do is watch a match or two and give the people working hard on this some support before deciding if you'll label it a failure.

[futurelinejudge]

What could possibly go wrong?

[futurelinejudge]

Jun 26, 2020 17:39:37 GMT -5 midwestvball1 said:

The US has a men's pro league? Hahaha. This is called an adult tournament.

I would be more afraid of getting Covid-19 at the after parties each night, not getting it during the event. No one is going to go to Indiana to watch this anyways. Lets be honest it is over 4th of July weekend. Watch online, while drinking a beer, and blowing your hand off with fireworks. That is the goal.

I mean solid marketing plan. 1 week out. And this is why we won't have a league in the US. The women's league starting up will fail as well.

It's amazing how little knowledge of sports business that some people running a sports business have.

First of all, all successful sports leagues bleed money at the start. Investors need to be in it for the long-run and willing to take losses for at least a few years. Plus, ownership of the teams/league need to have extremely deep pockets. Get some multi-millionaires on board with a deep passion for the game and MAYBE you have a chance. 

The only professional sports in this country that are profitable across the board are the big four leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) because they have TV deals worth billions, plus minor league baseball because they play 70+ home games a year, and don't have to pay team salaries and other costs (covered by MLB teams). Minor league hockey and even some minor league soccer teams average 4-10k per game, only pay out $15-20k a year per player in salaries, and most still lose $1,000,000+ per year.

Bottom Line: Until a few deep-pocketed owners come forward and do it for the love of the game, we're not going to have a professional league in the US. Especially not in men's volleyball.

The VLA and NVA are basically a glorified adult tournament. Just call yourself semi-professional and don't pretend to be something that you're not.

[panicvb]

Day 1 was a lot of fun to watch.

Cody Kessel was on FIRE!

[netsetter]

Jul 3, 2020 19:31:52 GMT -5 panicvb said:

Day 1 was a lot of fun to watch.

Cody Kessel was on FIRE!

I agree. It was great to see Kessel and Wieczorek back on the court again.

[TheReignman]

Cody and Dave really stand out. Fun for me to see guys I played with and against (at the D3 level) having so much success this weekend

[jackson5vb]

Who won? Was there prize money?

[ned3head]

Jul 5, 2020 22:50:28 GMT -5 jackson5vb said:

Who won? Was there prize money?

Ice Men (Chicago) swept LVC (New York) in the finals. Can’t speak to prize money.

[midwestvball1]

Jun 26, 2020 10:36:18 GMT -5 rstclaire1 said:

The Volleyball League of America has announced the VLA Kickoff Classic will be played next weekend, July 3-5, at the Ball Sports Academy (Lloy Ball's gym) in northeast Indiana.  Four teams, ten matches total, all live streamed for free on the VLA YouTube channel.  Men's professional volleyball is here in the US and you can help its growth just by following the league (www.instagram.com/vlavolleyball/) and tuning in to watch next weekend!

Match Schedule:

Friday July 3:
9 AM EST - Phoenix Ascension (www.instagram.com/ascension_volleyball/) vs. Indiana Team Pineapple (www.instagram.com/teampineapplevbc/)
12 PM EST - Chicago Icemen (www.instagram.com/chicago_icemen_vla/) vs. New York Legion (www.instagram.com/teamlvc_vla/)
3 PM EST - Phoenix Ascension vs. New York Legion
6 PM EST - Indiana Team Pineapple vs. Chicago Icemen

Saturday July 4:
9 AM EST - Indiana Team Pineapple vs. New York Legion
12 PM EST - Phoenix Ascension vs. Chicago Icemen
3 PM EST - Semifinal 1 - 1st seed vs. 4th seed

Sunday July 5:
11 AM EST - Semifinal 2 - 2nd seed vs. 3rd seed
2 PM EST - Bronze medal match
5 PM EST - Gold medal match

Several big names will be there playing, to name a few:

Chicago - Dave Wieczorek (Pepperdine, first team all-American), Mark Jones (George Mason, EIVA co-POY), Peter Jasaitis (Loyola, 2014 NCAA Champion)
Indiana - Lloy Ball (Olympic Gold Medalist), Bruno Amorim (Brazilian indoor/beach player)
New York - Cody Kessel (Princeton, second team all-American), Jordan Varee (Saint Francis), Blake Leeson (Ohio State, 2016-2017 NCAA Champion)
Phoenix - Joe Kauliakamoa (BYU), Srdj Nadazdin (Long Beach St)

Every match will be live streamed for free on the VLA YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/channel/UCyfo_6gkwXKdRWO5_eD4Q6w) and will be available right away on demand after each match.

Also check out the VLA's podcast series, The Deep Corner, on YouTube or audio versions wherever you get your podcasts.  Today's episode features Cody Kessel, other guests include Lloy Ball, Mike Marshman, Eric Martin, Zach Melcher, and several more.

Support the growth of professional men's volleyball stateside by following all the instagram links here and subscribing to the VLA YouTube channel.  We need as many eyes on next weekend's matches as possible, please share it with the people in your volleyball circles.  Not nearly enough people know this league exists yet, there's a lot everyone here on the boards can do to help.

So rstclaire1 calls this men's professional volleyball.  How many NCAA future, current, and possible Covid exempt seniors played in this 'professional' event?  Here is the YouTube page: www.youtube.com/channel/UCyfo_6gkwXKdRWO5_eD4Q6w


1. Evan Gebert (possible McKendree T/F)
2. Luke Braswell (PSU senior)
3. Lloy Ball's Son (Incoming Freshmen to Ball State)

Who else played?  I wonder if the college coaches were aware.