Paul Lotman (left) takes a shot against opponent Chaim Schalk during Saturday's men's quarterfinal match at the AVP Huntington Beach Open. (Courtesy of Mpu Dinani/AVP)
HUNTINGTON BEACH — The day before the AVP Huntington Beach Open began, the league's chief operating officer, Robert Corvino, hosted a number of competing teams for a private presentation to sell a new vision for professional volleyball in the United States.
Bull riding. At least its structure.
Even as beach volleyball continues to grow as a sport in the United States, AVP has long struggled to turn a profit, as league veteran and Long Beach State University graduate Paul Rotman said. It went bankrupt in 2010 and changed hands multiple times. The prize money varied mainly. So while AVP's global players expressed a need to innovate, Corvino's vision for the future “just seemed different,” Rotman recalled.
And that vision was certainly bullish, as Rotman learned during Thursday's 20-minute meeting. In November 2023, AVP announced the establishment of the AVP League, consisting of eight teams based in eight cities across the country. A team that wins one of the three perennial spots on the AVP Tour, such as Huntington Beach, could earn an automatic bid into the league. It's a format built almost exactly after the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) team series, which features eight teams from eight cities, Lotman said.
Rotman is 38 years old. There aren't many reps left in his lap. He has his four children, runs an Airbnb business, and played this weekend with his partner, Stanford beach volleyball assistant coach Billy Allen. He had been with him for all three of his training sessions up to Huntington.
This weekend, he played with more love for the game than himself. And that meant putting all of his weary feet into new ideas that were just vague, new ideas in a long line of ideas, ideas that he just hoped would work.
“I don't know how many more years I have to play,” Rotman said after Friday afternoon's game. “But for the future of the sport, I want to see it succeed.”
Some of the country's best beach volleyball players return to Huntington this weekend for the AVP Tour's annual event, The Open, and they are similarly on board with Corvino's plan.
USC graduate and Tokyo Games cash medalist April Ross, who returned to the court Friday after giving birth to her son in the fall, emphasized her excitement for the new format. Tri Vaughn and Chaim Schalk recently took a year off in preparation for the Paris Olympics, but returned to compete in Huntington with the goal of continuing to advance the game in the United States. And Taylor Crabb, a Long Beach State University graduate, saw her 2020 Olympic dreams end when she tested positive for COVID-19 10 minutes after stepping off a plane bound for Tokyo. Since then, he has shifted his focus away from international competition and concentrated on this new development within the AVP. .
For years, the Open was free for everyone to attend. This weekend, for the first time ever, tickets to the stands overlooking the main court will cost $21.60 per day. The stakes were suddenly higher for the event, which has been a Huntington Beach staple for decades. The men's and women's winners automatically earn their first spot in the AVP league.
“The league itself is pushing us and giving us a reason to have a tournament like this,'' said the club, who won Saturday at Huntington with partner Taylor Sander and advanced to Sunday's men's semi-final. He spoke after entering the market. “It's like do-or-die.”
“These tournaments mean a lot if we want to make it to the league. We have to win.”
After all, that's the easiest way to get a bid into the league. The same opportunity will be given to the winners of the Manhattan Beach Open in August and the Chicago Open, which runs from August 30 to September 1. That part is easy enough. How the rest of the league will be filled out is not so simple.
Before the season begins in the fall, the AVP will hold a player draft in Manhattan Beach to determine which pairs will represent the cities participating in the league: Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Brooklyn, Miami, Palm Beach, and Dallas. And Austin. It is unclear whether drafted teams will be required to travel to those cities or how the actual connection between the pair and the cities will be established.
“The public needs to see you, right?” Beach volleyball legend Misty Mae-Treanor asked in an interview with Southern California News Group on Saturday, adding, “I don't think reinventing everything is possible.” “I'm not sure if it's the right path,” he said.
But the players were adamant that the sport requires strong ties between city teams. As Rotman said, beach volleyball had become inherently individualistic. Every team has its own coach, its own sponsors, its own motivations. But AVP needs to generate enough buzz and sell enough tickets to continue to justify the cost of building the event, Lotman added. And Lotman felt it was a “sustainable model” for the city to support the team.
In theory, the timing is perfect for the league to capitalize on the buzz generated by Team USA at the Paris Summer Olympics. And so far, America's brightest talent has shined brightly at Huntington.
Sarah Hughes and Kelly Chen, the reigning Huntington Beach Open champions heading to Paris, defeated Haley Harward and Kylie DeBerg 2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 15-6) in the women's quarterfinals on Saturday. I did a good job of breaking it. Meanwhile, fellow Olympians Taryn Cross and Kristen Nass defeated Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandi Wilkerson in three sets (17-21, 21-19, 15-12) to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. There is a good chance that both teams will win. The women's final will take place on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The stage is set for an exciting final day in Huntington. The winner will be the first cog in a much-needed grand experiment.
“I'm optimistic,” Rotman said. “I hope you all are too, because like I said, AVP has been struggling for a long time and needs to find a way to make money and survive.”
