The site of our fate - yet to be determined. Hopefully this guy is on the board and votes "Beach."

What I’ve learned in the last 72 hours:

• David Schreff was willing to answer my phone
   call.
• USA Volleyball has an annual budget between 12 
   million and 13 million dollars.
• There are 250,000 individuals in the United
   States that hold USAV memberships, with dues
   costing between $25 and $60 (annually) for
   privileges.
• Of that quarter-million, zero members come
   from the beach-side of the sport.
• USAV is essentially an organization of
   organizations.
• I need a haircut; or at least a trim.
• Rob Thomas is really good in concert.
• The current NCAA women’s sand volleyball
   initiative is the most important legislation to be set in place regarding the growth of the sport at the
   grassroots level in history.
• The Big Ten and Big 12 do not currently understand the importance of adding collegiate sand volleyball to
   their athletic programs because they’re based in the Midwest and frankly they just don’t get it.
• Miller Lite essentially started the AVP in 1983 as a simple marketing ‘brand activation.’
• Every man-made sand court built by the operations staff and under-appreciated crew at an AVP venue
   requires 250 tons of sand, each. Local geology determines the sand quality that players compete on and 
   flat sand, often found in desert environments, doesn’t drain because each particle stacks on top of each
   other.
• The AVP schedule has already been drafted out for the next three years, leading up to London, and will
   include Olympic Qualifiers if USAV understands what needs to be done in order for the sport to become a
   global phenomenon. 
• KGC is actually quite tasty. And the biscuits are nothing but sweet, sweet deliciousness.
• There are glasses on this earth that have a camera located directly between the lenses and if used 
   properly could illustrate exactly what it looks like to block a ball four and a half feet above the top of the 
   tape.

Trust me; it was a busy three days.

It all started on the phone with ‘Chairman of the Board’ himself, Mr. David Schreff. That’s right, I called him. Why not? After all, I needed answers to some relatively difficult questions.

Such as:
• What is your exact opinion of professional beach volleyball, as it stands currently, in the United States?
• Is USA Volleyball truly under the impression they’re doing an adequate job with the beach side of the
   sport?
• Has USAV honestly been able to bring any marketing partners, sponsors, endorsers, media partners, or
   press support to beach volleyball?
• Why exactly are you so against Ryan Morgan’s proposal for reform?
• What can be done to improve the union between indoor and beach if bylaw reform is impossible?
• What is USA Volleyball’s total annual budget?
• What percentage of the overall budget at USA Volleyball is spent on the beach, and what percentage of the
   revenue at USA Volleyball is generated by the beach?

His answers were, of course, both bureaucratic and cyclical, and yet, almost seemed to carry hints of sincerity.

To summarize: David Schreff sees an ideal growth opportunity for both indoor and beach, and compares volleyball’s current state to that of the NBA in 1990 when he was able to help David Stern turn a domesticated basketball league into what it is now, a global entertainment brand. But he also feels that in order for the beach side of things to do so, we need the best people in the ‘beach business’ working diligently at the appropriate positions at USAV. And that, my friends, is what I don’t understand.

Schreff clearly hears the frustrations behind Ryan Morgan’s words in his proposal for reform; he understands that more staff members, more athlete service and a significantly larger budget are necessary for any sort of real change, and yet, he is completely unwilling to admit the escalated situation between USAV, the players, and the AVP is more than just a simple client service issue? 

The guy served as President (Marketing and Media Group) of the NBA. He was responsible for global sponsorship, media, toy, game, interactive, and publishing properties during the NBA’s period of greatest global growth (1990-96). After that, he landed Marvel Entertainment, where he served as President, Chief Operating Officer, and board member, responsible for overseeing the comics groups division, trading card division, and the company’s character licensing operations. And to top it off, he became Vice-President of Walt Disney Company’s Disney Channel and Director of Affiliate Marketing for Viacom’s Showtime Networks. David Schreff is clearly not a stupid human being. And yet, why can he not see that USA Volleyball has done absolutely nothing positive for beach volleyball in its history?

Now, before I continue, I need to be quite clear that our phone conversation was more than cordial. From what I could tell, there wasn’t even a hint of animosity in either of our tones. I only called because I wanted to speak with him directly and find out what his stance was before I continued to press my point as a nationally disenfranchised beach volleyball athlete. Especially considering his only form of contact up until that point was a form letter that I immediately posted that was essentially in response to my form letter. His reply has since changed, albeit still uniform, and I felt it wise to remove, but I’m more than happy to bring up one of his finer points, or more accurately put, his only method of progression towards resolution:

“You can be most helpful to me by contacting your elected USAV Beach Athlete Representatives to the Board of Directors, Tyra Turner and Sean Scott, and provide SPECIFIC examples of ways that such athlete support can be improved.”
 
This isn’t the first time the players have been asked to compile a list of complaints regarding USAV. Hell, we’ve been making lists for years (most recently in 2007), and the management team has been doing nothing about it. There isn’t anything that we’re going to tell USAV now that we haven’t told them before, and the timing of this request is a little fishy considering the meeting in Holyoke takes place Friday.
 
BUT, if David Schreff is correct and this is not a governance issue, and no modifications need to be addressed within the NGB, wouldn’t the next logical step be to address current management instead of writing up another list of individual circumstances in which USA Volleyball let us down? Because, correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t this situation scream for some new ears and eyes to resolve it? It’s almost like asking baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who oversaw the steroids problem, to fix the steroids problem. Or, asking Skilling, Lay, and Fastow to fix Enron? Or asking Ebbers to fix Worldcom? We need new management.

Moving on. David Schreff’s other claim:
 
“I am not convinced that a separate NGB for Beach is the answer to growing the range of marketing partners, sponsors, endorsers, media partners and press support that the sport needs as whole.”
 
Fact: We need marketing partners, sponsors, endorsers, media partners, and press support. Looking at USAV’s minimal list of sponsors for indoor volleyball (USAV Sponsors), I would say neither David nor Doug is in position to claim USAV has control of securing any of the above list; for either discipline.

Lastly; the best question of Friday morning: What percentage of the overall budget at USA Volleyball is spent on the beach, and what percentage of the revenue at USA Volleyball is generated by the beach?

Short answer, and I quote…

“The percentage spent on the beach is virtually equal to the percentage spent on indoor.”

Yes, you read that correctly. Earlier in the phone call, Schreff established USAV’s annual budget at between 12 and 13 million, so that would put the beach budget in the range of 6 to 6.5 million dollars. Once again, yes, you’re reading that correctly. I don’t even know how to respond to that. The only logical answer to his claim is that he misspoke. There is no conceivable way USA Volleyball is spending more than 6 million dollars to help further beach volleyball, this much I guarantee. Especially when you consider his answer to the second half of the question:

“USAV generates zero revenue from the sport of beach volleyball.”

Let’s recap for a second… David Schreff stated that the budgets for both indoor and beach volleyball at USAV are “virtually equal;” with the beach discipline generating zero revenue from their investment. Once again, I don’t even know how to respond to that.

Only explanation – He was unsure about the exact stats and panicked. Completely understandable. And after recently emailing him to inquire further, I got a little more clarification as to what he would have preferred to say in our original conversation:

“Others are more expert than I in describing that there is really not a fair comparison, yet, for indoor support compared to beach support. There is a business reason for that, not a “preference” for one discipline over another. USAV has taken years to build up financially self-sustaining programs wherever possible. The pie has to increase in size through the efforts of many staff, volunteers, club owners, athletes and marketing partners for the beach discipline to generate that kind [equal] of funding.”

Keep in mind, I asked him for the exact percentages so I could happily adjust the column if his original statement was incorrect. Either he must not know them or the discrepancy between the two is so substantial, he doesn’t want to admit on a public forum how little support the beach is actually receiving.

Regardless, at this point, all I care about is putting this ridiculous feud behind us and finding a resolution. Which I believe will never come to fruition unless communication, responsiveness, and effectiveness of staff at both USAV and AVP improve. 
 
Bottom line, the players have lost all trust in management, and since I’m all about lists with bullets this evening, why don’t I make another one quickly summarizing how USAV has let down its athletes over the years, just to drive home the point…

USAV:
• Has not spent adequately or effectively in the beach discipline of the sport.
• Has not had the business sense to make any money or effective partnerships in beach volleyball to
   generate revenue and help grow the sport. 
• Has not adequately advocated for its athletes internationally.
• Has failed to hire satisfactory employees to manage the beach discipline within USAV.
• Has undermined the sport and pro tour by supporting another tour within the same marketplace that was
   attacking the sport at the professional level while trying to drive the player economics very close to zero
   by offering almost nonexistent prize money.

At the least, Ryan’s proposal addresses every one of these issues and establishes a plan to remedy the situation before it taints the National Governing Body of our sport any further. What’s so wrong with a board of 5 beach individuals that are empowered to make ALL decisions relating to beach volleyball at the NGB level? Basic idea being: If the people making the decisions actually understand and care about beach volleyball, good decisions will be made, and over time, good things will happen. The AVP is professional beach volleyball in the United States. USA Volleyball must put past issues with the AVP behind them and vice versa. Don’t think I’m taking all the responsibility off the shoulders of the AVP. Both organizations need to form a joint partnership in order to propel the sport of beach volleyball in the United States to heights never before seen.

USAV states on their website:

“We are committed to introducing our sport to all of America.”

Now it’s time for them speak on behalf of both disciplines and honestly mean it. October 30th is today, and it’s just another Friday for most, but not for us. Today is our long awaited chance to be recognized for what we truly are: A wonderful version of volleyball that’s just as, if not more, important as indoor.
Hodell