Players Propose Beach Oversight Committee To USA Volleyball

Beach Volleyball Players Say USA Volleyball Has Not Kept Up With Sport's Changes

A group of beach volleyball players has formulated a proposal to be sent to USA Volleyball this week asking for a "Beach Oversight Committee" within the NGB that "would be made up of beach athletes and executives and exercise complete autonomy over the discipline," according to Jimmy Golen of the AP. Morgan Advisory Group President & CEO Ryan Morgan, who reps U.S. Gold Medal-winning beach volleyball players Kerri Walsh, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, said of the proposal, "We're not asking for anything other than a place at the table, and for people to be unconflicted. The people responsible for the growth of the sport and advocating for the athletes should be focused on beach." The proposal "stops short of asking for a complete sand schism and instead uses a 'One sport, two surfaces' approach." It would set up a five-person Beach Oversight Committee within USA Volleyball that would "control Olympic qualification and other matters unique to the beach." USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal said that he "had not received the proposal," but he noted that the organization "restructured once, creating dedicated seats on the board to the beach side." But beach volleyball players said that USA Volleyball "hasn't kept up with the changes," as the organization was "formed long before their discipline became a respectable sport." Beach volleyball players said that they have "faced lopsided representation in their national governing body ... for years," but they were "willing to ignore it because the AVP Tour was where they made their money, and Olympic teams were picked based on performance at international events controlled by" the Int'l Volleyball Federation (FIVB). However, Golen noted that changed when the FIVB "turned the Olympic qualification over to the national governing bodies this spring" (AP, 9/29).