This week's unique hybrid event is just the fourth joint effort between the AVP and FIVBGETTY IMAGES
The AVP Tour and the FIVB are "partners this week" for the FIVB Huntington Beach Open, an event that "took a year's worth of conversations and some significant compromises," according to Jim Alexander of the Riverside PRESS-ENTERPRISE. AVP Managing Partner Donald Sun said, "We’ve done collaborations before. This one is a little different. It’s not just an AVP promoter running a world tour event. This is really a true collaboration ... It’s definitely a stepping stone." Alexander notes there was one compromise from what would seem like an "unlikely source: the corporate sector." Wilson is the "official supplier of the ball used in AVP events, and Mikasa furnishes the balls for FIVB tournaments." In this case, Wilson "stepped aside to allow Mikasa to have the stage, and the advertising logos, this week." Beach volleyball player April Ross said, "The basic general consensus was, everybody wants this tournament to happen. So you give and take here and there" (Riverside PRESS-ENTERPRISE, 5/3). VOLLEYMOB.com's Wendy Mayer noted this unique "hybrid event, just the fourth joint effort between the AVP and FIVB, is the result of the combined efforts of USA Volleyball and the AVP." The Huntington Beach Open is a "four-star FIVB international event that will be hosted by the AVP." Unlike most FIVB events, the "format of the main draw will be double-elimination instead of the traditional pool play format." The main draw will "feature 48 teams per gender in the main draw" (VOLLEYMOB.com, 5/1).
CUT TO THE CHASE: In California, Bill Oram reports former NBAer Chase Budinger will "make his pro volleyball debut" next to Sean Rosenthal as main draw play begins at the FIVB Huntington Beach Open. It marks the "first step toward their goal" of the '20 Tokyo Games. Budinger is "far from the first NBA player to find a second home on the beach." Basketball HOFer Wilt Chamberlain "famously spent more than a decade on the pro volleyball circuit" following his career. Budinger: "We’re still learning and I’m still in that process of asking a lot of questions" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 5/3).
