Only players and essential personnel were allowed near the man-made courts in Long BeachROBERT BECK/AVP
During this past weekend's Monster Hydro Cup, the first of three consecutive tournaments in the AVP's Champions Cup Series, "little was standard," according to Jack Harris of the L.A. TIMES. The AVP Champions Cup Series is a three-weekend event in Long Beach "replacing the tour's original schedule amid the coronavirus outbreak." Only players and essential tour personnel "were allowed near the man-made courts erected in the Long Beach Convention Center parking lots." Players were "kept separated between matches and sheltered as much as possible between points." Before the event, the AVP "tested all players and staff members (each came back negative)." At the start of each day, players had to "remain in their car and fill out a symptom questionnaire on their phone." Once cleared, they had to "wear orange bands around their wrist or ankle at all times, including on the court." The AVP's planning was "meticulous." AVP COO Al Lau said that tour officials "created guidelines for everything from cater to sanitation to even the spread-out furniture arrangements in the players' tents." Harris writes the Int'l Volleyball Federation is "hoping to stage more international World Tour events in coming months, but the unpredictability of the pandemic means they are far from a guarantee -- making the return of [last] weekend's competition a relief" (L.A. TIMES, 7/20).
