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Post by travismewhirter on Apr 11, 2021 11:27:51 GMT -5
Hey all, Hope y'all had a great week. Just dropping in a little news on a non-profit I helped co-found. It's called Chasing Gold, and it's aimed at providing funding for our beach athletes who are making (expensive) runs at the Olympics. The reason we went the non-profit route is because all donations are tax deductible, so it's more attractive to individuals, sponsors, corporations and foundations to donate/sponsor/chip in. Here's the link to our site: www.chasinggold.org/ We went live on Friday, and already we have brought in enough funds to cover one team's entire trip to Cancun, so we've got some momentum. Feel free to share, donate, or let me know of any corporations/individuals who may be interested. Thanks and enjoy the Masters, Travis
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Post by wang pu on Apr 14, 2021 0:42:15 GMT -5
Awesome mission!
Question regarding qualifier teams...are their hotels and meals covered if they make the mail draw?
Also doesn’t USAV cover costs for their athletes?
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Post by ajm on Apr 14, 2021 8:19:08 GMT -5
Awesome mission! Question regarding qualifier teams...are their hotels and meals covered if they make the mail draw? Also doesn’t USAV cover costs for their athletes? avp.com/news/2021-tokyo-olympic-faqs/According to this, the FIVB pays for your hotel room (three meals/day included) once you make the main draw but not after you’ve been eliminated. So even main draw teams have to pay out of pocket for the days between events. I seem to remember USAV providing a stipend for the top American teams but no idea how much.
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Post by southbay11 on Apr 14, 2021 9:02:32 GMT -5
Awesome mission! Question regarding qualifier teams...are their hotels and meals covered if they make the mail draw? Also doesn’t USAV cover costs for their athletes? avp.com/news/2021-tokyo-olympic-faqs/According to this, the FIVB pays for your hotel room (three meals/day included) once you make the main draw but not after you’ve been eliminated. So even main draw teams have to pay out of pocket for the days between events. I seem to remember USAV providing a stipend for the top American teams but no idea how much. The stipend is tiny. Notice April and Alix and Brooke and Kerri are not on this list because the stipend is ranked 1-4. Kerri is wealthy compared to the others. Brooke is paid for via sponsorships as are April and Alix. Food is not covered. Flights are not covered. As Kelley and Em arrive; the first 2 days they pay. Then, as soon as the MD is over; the next 4 days they pay again. Chasing Gold is here in response to a need of helping the players with financial and mental stability. Kelley and Bill coach all day long to make ends meet. Emily actually lives in a Walsh property. Kelly and Sarah have nothing, etc. This is a huge mountain to climb for most players. Kelly and Sarah are out of pocket $5k just for their hotel. Flights are close to $800 each. Food? Imagine traveling to Europe where the dollar is a fraction of the euro... Every dollar helps them. Please support them at chasinggold.org. 100% of the money goes to pay the players expenses. With Sochi and Ostrava coming up; this gets ridiculously expensive. Why a lot of Americans can’t even compete over there. Now, they bring their coaches. Zero of that is covered by USA or anyone else.
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Post by southbay11 on Apr 14, 2021 9:21:59 GMT -5
If you wonder why the men haven’t medaled since 2008; here’s your answer. Russians are paid well by Russia. Brazil has the banking system backing them. American Men are left to fend for themselves while trying to support families. For most that don’t have immediate success; it’s a struggle. Even those with immediate success (Sarah and Kelly) it’s a struggle
When an athlete calls you crying Bc covering their expenses frees their mind so they can just play, you realize how messed up this is. The goal is to change it one step at a time and make it sustainable in the next few years and then expand it. They often choose between paying the rent and going into further credit card debt - feeding their kids or playing in an event. The fan is the one losing out from their talent - hell, we don’t even pay to watch them.
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Post by JB Southpaw on Apr 14, 2021 9:52:25 GMT -5
Thanks for the insight SB11.
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Post by southbay11 on Apr 14, 2021 14:25:49 GMT -5
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Post by itssteve on Apr 14, 2021 22:37:26 GMT -5
Do you know what the funding from USAV and the USOC is now? Is it still 40k a year, health, insurance, $3500 a tournament for travel per tournament and $1000 a month for coaching. This is around what is was per player in the top 4 players a few year a go. Then then players 5-8 is was around 32k a year then 8-12 the same per tournament if they make the main draw and the 12k a year.
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Post by southbay11 on Apr 14, 2021 23:24:40 GMT -5
Do you know what the funding from USAV and the USOC is now? Is it still 40k a year, health, insurance, $3500 a tournament for travel per tournament and $1000 a month for coaching. This is around what is was per player in the top 4 players a few year a go. Then then players 5-8 is was around 32k a year then 8-12 the same per tournament if they make the main draw and the 12k a year. Yes, your numbers are way, way off. First, only the top 4 teams per gender get anything. The rest; nothing. Claes and Sponcil are 4th and they don’t get any travel paid for - if that tells you how far off you are. We just paid $5k for their hotel. Only top 2 get health coverage. We just paid everyone’s flights except the top 2 teams male and female. Why the top 2 are not a part of chasing gold. Everything is heavily weighed on the top 2 . We are paying Emily and Kelley’s hotel for the days they are not in the main draw. MD days are covered; all others are not. Every other day is out of pocket. Things have gotten worse for the athletes. Smaller purses. Less events. Less support. Just look at what’s going on at a Stanford. The AVP has been losing money year in and year out. Something has to change and that’s why Chasing Gold was formed
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Post by hbmb10k on Apr 14, 2021 23:41:41 GMT -5
I think we call all agree this country can't afford to fund olympic athletes. For instance 1% of the yearly US military budget is 7.14 Billion dollars. That figure would only able to fund each of the 558 Olympic athletes only 12.8 Million in salary/support every year. So lets only cut the military budget by 1/10th of 1% and give each athlete. 1.28 Million a year you say? Ok wise guy. You want to show China and Iran how weak we are? Go right ahead!
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Post by southbay11 on Apr 14, 2021 23:45:26 GMT -5
I think we call all agree this country can't afford to fund olympic athletes. For instance 1% of the yearly US military budget is 7.14 Billion dollars. That figure is would only able to fund each of the 558 Olympic athletes only 12.8 Million in salary/support every year. So lets only cut the military budget by 1/10th of 1% and give each athlete. 1.28 Million a year you say? Ok wise guy. You want to show China and Iran how weak we are? Go right ahead! You’re preaching to the choir. The word disgusting comes to mind. What fueled me to put a business plan in place for Chasing Gold. When players call you crying because you paid their hotel bill....something isn’t right. Top players. Potentially Olympic Players at this moment. This is a long game. The goal is to prove the model and then move into other sports in the next few years. I can’t divulge too much but the concept is to be financially sustainable for the athletes. This is a passion project. A legacy that we hope to leave behind long after we are gone.
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Post by Winbabywin on Apr 15, 2021 8:08:52 GMT -5
Yes, sustainability is the key word. A lot of people will give now because it is new and the Olympics are coming up, and all that. But what happens 6 months from now, or a year from now. People gave once, but are they gonna give again? I hope so! Perhaps some potential sponsors (businesses) will give to this general fund, if they have no specific dog in the hunt...they can at least give some support to everyone.
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Post by southbay11 on Apr 15, 2021 8:45:15 GMT -5
Yes, sustainability is the key word. A lot of people will give now because it is new and the Olympics are coming up, and all that. But what happens 6 months from now, or a year from now. People gave once, but are they gonna give again? I hope so! Perhaps some potential sponsors (businesses) will give to this general fund, if they have no specific dog in the hunt...they can at least give some support to everyone. There is an extensive business plan. This is not just for volleyball. Once we prove the model (which you’ll see over the next year) in the sport of volleyball; we will go into swimming, track and field, speed skating, etc We started 5 days ago. Lol. There is a plan for sustainability. There is a huge plan working with not just corporations but some of the worlds largest foundations and billionaires. Now, we just have to pull it off. While we work on this; people in the volleyball community can come together as a family and help move this sport forward. There’s a reason the men haven’t medaled since 2008 and it’s mainly financial from top to bottom. There’s a reason the Russians and Brazilians are competing at the level they are across the board and the reason is financial A lot of volleyball people have wanted to help. This is their chance to give while receiving tax benefits and being a part of the evolution of the sport and getting these players to the Olympics. We are all part of their team. They can’t do it without the volleyball community. It costs $5k-$6.5k a month just to be a professional. Coaching, Training, rehab. Paying rent on crappy places. They don’t do it for the money. I’m shocked everyone doesn’t give $100. You attend and watch a sport for free. $100 a year isn’t killing any of us with our $150 a month cell phones. Lol
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Post by southbay11 on Apr 15, 2021 8:55:35 GMT -5
If we don’t come along and change this; all these wonderful, outstanding college girls coming out and young men coming up; will go get careers and we will miss out on their talent and the entertainment. Change happens with the first step. We need everyone’s help to pull this off and they need our help. It’s very viable or I wouldn’t be spending 30-40 hours a week volunteering on a side hobby/passion project that doesn’t pay me. There are some wonderful “kids” in this sport and need a future and I’d like to be sitting around in a decade being entertained by their talents not talking about what USA Beach “was” to my grandkids. The AVP doesn’t generate enough revenue to make this a profession at that level and social media has turned everyone into slave marketers for a free ball, shirt or product not knowing their value. Our goal is to also create value with the players
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Post by itssteve on Apr 15, 2021 10:30:22 GMT -5
So USAV and the USOC cut funding from 2020? Do you know if it was due to Covid. I also know in the past they had talked about focusing there resources to the top 2/3 teams as the Olympics gets closer. Nick Phil and jake and Taylor are most likely the teams going on the men’s side. The A team and KWJ/ Brooke or Kelly Sarah on the women’s side.
I think in 2019/2020 that’s the top 6 has full access to a trainer/gym/PT/coaching stipend/living stipend and around 7k per team per event for travel if you were in the main draw. CQ teams never got funding. It’s sad to see that’s charged. Hopefully your 501c3 helps and the funding comes back.
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