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A strategic plan to start college beach men’s volleyball is slated to be unveiled in the upcoming months.
The AVCA announced recently that it partnered with Beach Volleyball Consulting to establish a working group that will examine the issue of growing men’s beach volleyball at the college level.
No NCAA or NAIA schools currently sponsor men’s beach volleyball.
The AVCA, though, does have experience expanding college women’s beach volleyball. Within the last 10 years, the AVCA helped women’s beach volleyball become a NCAA sanctioned sport and expanded the sport to more than 150 colleges across the nation.
Beach Volleyball Consulting is a new organization in Southern California that is committed to the development of beach volleyball through providing services for athletes, coaches and organizers. In addition, Beach Volleyball Consulting released the Impact Report 2019 in December that advocated for the need to make men’s beach volleyball a college sport.
“[The report] put into numbers the lack of opportunity for males in beach volleyball,” said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer said in a statement. “Our linkages in the college sector and our success with starting women’s beach made this an initiative we wanted to tackle.”
Megan Burgdorf, the co-founder of Beach Volleyball Consulting, has established a nine-person working group that will present its findings and the proposed strategic plan at the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships on May 6-9.
Among the members of this working group include USA Volleyball’s Sean Scott, former professional beach volleyball player Casey Jennings, former USC beach volleyball coach Anna Collier and Stevenson coach Aldis Berzins.
“It has been a decade of impressive growth for women in beach volleyball, with it being the fastest growing emerging sport in the NCAA,” Burgdorf said in a statement. “We are excited to drive this strategic initiative with the collaboration of our working group to create exceptional opportunities for men.”
Until they start putting coaches or qualified people from the East coast on any import volleyball or beach volleyball committee our sport will struggle to grow! Everyone knows that in the past California has been the standard and location but the sport has evolved and it seems like every time a committee or group is put together the east coast has not been offered to be involved. That being said the east coast has grown In numbers and talent on its own with minimal help. If both coasts would start working together we would get much more accomplished and raise the level at the same time.
Hey Mike. I am fairly certain Stevenson college is on the East Coast?
East coast here. Sign me up. Christy Girard coach and director at Greenwich Volleyball club (girls) and Mizuno East Volleyball Club (boys) in Connecticut. Son, Harrison Girard, currently U14 ( USAV Beach HP A1 2017-2019). Totally invested.
Aldis Berzins is a former Olympian that coaches at Stevenson outside of Baltimore. You can’t get more East coast than that.
Myrtle Beach is in. We are trying to grow it here. My 13 year old son was part of USAV A1 HP in So Cal last year. I run all the beach volleyball stuff here. Love to help.
You have support from FL. 50% of the HP Semifinalists from last 2 years are from FL. We’re in.
I’m a beach volleyball player and I’m a senior in high school I finished number one in the Florida Atlantic division in men’s double A I don’t play indoor because there has not been any indoor teams in South Carolina until this year. And no high schools near me or my high school wanted to pick it up. So there’s no volleyball for me in college unless y’all do something quick