THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 2, 1995 TAG: 9506020676
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 133 lines
Organizers of a prospective professional volleyball league are scouting Hampton Roads as a possible site for one of 12 future teams but concede they've seen little interest from the area.
So far, five would-be owners in other areas are negotiating with the National Volleyball League for franchises, officials said. The easternmost franchise is Cincinnati.
``We would love to find an ownership group in the Richmond, Norfolk or Virginia Beach area, but so far, we haven't been able to do so,'' said Rene Richey, the NVL's administrative director.
The indoor volleyball league, which hopes to attract top pro and college players, has a self-imposed - although flexible - deadline of June 30 to put $250,000 in escrow. Richey said they're close.
League organizers, including Doug Beal, a former national-team coach that steered the 1984 men's squad to an Olympic gold medal, are searching for prospective team owners who can ante $25,000 initially. Then, during the next year, owners would make three payments of $75,000.
Organizers are looking to Hampton Roads during a volleyball boom. Several area school systems have added boys and girls teams, and an increasing number of players and teams have fattened the membership of the nonprofit Tidewater Volleyball Association.
The TVA has 1,100 paying members and twice that number on its mailing list. And more than 100 school-age players participate in TVA leagues, according to Mike Vanderslice, association director.
This weekend, in fact, the area will host an unprecedented number of amateur and pro matches.
Today in Norfolk, local qualifying matches for the Harborfest Volleyball Tournament begin. The two-man sand-court tournament has in the past attracted some of the East Coast's best players. Sixteen qualifying teams will play in a double elimination format beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. More than 300 tons of sand were trucked in to construct two courts in the World Trade Center parking lot at Boush and Main streets.
Tonight, the TVA's six-person indoor leagues conclude with several championship matches at the Virginia Beach facility.
Saturday at the Oceanfront beginning at 11 a.m., professional beach players will compete in the Budweiser four-woman tournament. The championship will be approximately 1 p.m. Sunday.
And a few streets south of the pros, the TVA is hosting a recreational tournament.
``We've had several large events throughout summer,'' Vanderslice said, ``but we have never had anything like this in one weekend.''
The National Volleyball League is also banking on a rush of high-profile volleyball events to generate interest in the league.
This year marks the sport's centennial. And next year, volleyball will be a staple of the Atlanta Olympics, with matches every day but the first. For the first time, two-person beach volleyball will be an Olympic sport.
``We want to capitalize on the fact that volleyball will be all over the Olympics, both beach and indoor,'' Richey said. ``There will be two styles of the sport played, and it is one of the top five most-watched Olympic sports. If we are inundated with volleyball, that can only help us.''
The league plans to draw players mainly from the professional and college ranks. So far, there isn't a plan for a women's league.
The 12-team league would be divided into East and West divisions, and plans a 42-game schedule beginning in December. If, that is, the NVL can sign 12 teams.
``The general thinking behind whole process is that volleyball has reached unprecedented levels of sponsorship, mainly on the strength of the beach game and the Bud Light tours,'' Richey said. ``And we're hoping again to capitalize on the success of the national team. . . . Volleyball is at an unprecedented level of popularity.''
That wasn't always the case. Two pro leagues have tried and failed to woo sponsors, TV contracts and viewers to the indoor game.
The first try was the International Volleyball Association, which featured coed teams that sometimes played in high-school gymnasiums. The IVA was launched in 1975 and plummeted five years later.
Women's Major League Volleyball had a shorter run, from 1985 to 1987.
But, NVL organizers said, the sport has since blossomed.
Now, 800 million people play the sport worldwide, and 45 million play in the U.S., according to a sporting-goods company survey. Only basketball boasts more players nationally than does volleyball.
The catalyst was the 1984 Olympics, when the U.S. men's team won gold and the women won silver. Four year later, the men repeated. In 1992, the men won bronze.
The beach game has also boosted the sport, transforming relatively anonymous indoor Olympic players into athletic superstars competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars in major televised tournaments.
Several of those beach players - Bob Ctvrtlik, Steve Timmons and Karch Kiraly - have expressed interest in the league, Richey said.
That interest won't be for the money - the NVL is talking about a $400,000-per-team salary cap, which would mean a pay cut for the sport's biggest names. European and Japanese leagues lure the best U.S. players with bigger bucks.
``I'm not sure what I could say to convince them to play in the league,'' Richey said, who added that the league hasn't yet actively recruited players. ``But they could make good money here, and they would not have to move or relocate to Europe. A league here could help keep the national team strong, because players could stay in the states and still train with national team.''
Although there's hardly been a stampede of interest from prospective Hampton Roads team owners, local volleyball players like Vanderslice say they believe the area would support a team.
``I thought it would be great for area,'' he said. ``Just look at what's gone one with hockey. That's a sport that people aren't playing actively in the area but the spectators get behind it with a good show of numbers.
``Volleyball here has several thousand players alone.'' ILLUSTRATION: NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE
When would it happen?
If the league gets of the ground, 12 teams in two divisions would
begin play Nov. 30, 1996. The 42-game season would conclude six
months later with playoffs.
Where would the teams be?
Five prospective owners have expressed serious interest in the
league. So far, the interest has come from Chicago, Denver,
Cincinnati, and two California localities - Orange County/Irvine and
Long Beach. The league is recruiting more East-Coast owners, and
said it would like to place a team in the Richmond area, or in
Hampton Roads. Here, the team could play in Scope or in the Hampton
Coliseum, and they could practice t the Tidewater Volleyball
Association's Virginia Beach facility.
Who would play?
The league hopes to attract U.S. team members, professional beach
players, American players in foreign leagues, graduating collegiate
players, foreign players, and high-level club players. The league
said star players like Bob Ctvrtlik, Steve Timmons and Karch Kiraly
have all expressed interest.
by CNB