Moving to the Fore : As Professional Beach Volleyball Evolves, the Four-Player Format Is Gaining Popularity
Two-man pro beach volleyball has been a hit for years, and Craig Elledge believes the same will happen to his recently created four-man American Beach Volleyball League.
The ABVL, which consists of five four-man teams, will be in Hermosa Beach on Saturday and Sunday for its fourth stop of the season. Matches begin at 9 a.m. each day on the courts next to the Hermosa Beach Pier. Sunday’s final is expected to begin at 2:30 p.m.
Elledge, who formerly helped promote the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals and the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn., says he came up with four-man format in 1988.
In 1989, he sponsored a four-man tournament in Hermosa Beach, but it wasn’t until 1991 that the ABVL tour got under way. There were seven events last year and $200,000 in prize money. All of the 1991 tournaments were televised by ESPN, which has also signed on to telecast this year’s events.
The 1992 tour, which runs through August, has 10 tournaments and offers $300,000 in prize money. Compared to AVP tournaments, which offer an average purse of $75,000, the ABVL is offering $30,000 a tournament.
But Elledge said only the top players in the AVP can actually earn a living playing on the beach. Because players have to pay for transportation, lodging, food and other expenses, many lose money.
The ABVL takes care of travel arrangements, accommodations and gives players meal money. All the players earn money for competing in a tournament, with the fifth-place team earning $720.
“We wanted to make it more like a league,” Elledge said. “It’s a team concept. There’s a lot of money in the AVP, but the question we ask is, ‘Can you make it?’ There’s a lot of competition out there.”
In February, Elledge held a draft, similar to that of other professional sports. He assigned five team captains who picked a team. Each team, which has a sponsor, has seven players. Four of the players travel with the team and there are three alternates.
Rules are the same as in the AVP, but unlike the rival league, where teams are seeded according to strength, the ABVL has a round-robin format.
Several standout indoor players are competing on this year’s tour, including six U.S. National Team members. Team Club Sportswear, which won four tournaments in 1991, is led by captain Jeff Stork, a setter on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team that won a gold medal in Seoul, South Korea.
Stork, a three-time All-American at Pepperdine, will play for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team that will travel to Barcelona. He has also played four years of professional indoor volleyball in Italy.
Team B.U.M. is led by captain Craig Buck, a two-time Olympic gold medalist (1984 and 1988) and an All-American at Pepperdine. A 6-foot-9 middle blocker, Buck spent two years in an Italian pro indoor league and one year in France.
“The style of game is taking a lot of the indoor characteristics,” Buck said. “The middle blocker is very important in this game. The two-man game is for smaller players with more all-around type skills.
“I think you get a better game with the four-man. It’s better entertainment than two-man. The rallies are longer, and you’re hitting against a two-man block every time. I’m excited about it.”
Buck, in his second season in the ABVL, says the league is going in the right direction. He has seen a lot of improvement from 1991.
“This year’s league is much stronger,” Buck said. “The competition is a lot better with the addition of the national team players.”
They include setter Dan Greenbaum of Rancho Palos Verdes, middle blocker Bryan Ivie of Manhattan Beach, outside hitter Carlos Briceno, outside hitter Scott Fortune, setter Eric Sato and outside hitter Allen Allen.
Because six ABVL players will be competing in the Olympics, the league will not hold any tournaments in June or July. But conflicts in schedules may force some players to miss two ABVL tournaments in May and the first tournament in August.
Ivie, a graduate of Mira Costa High, is happy for an opportunity to earn money playing on the beach. He said as long as the national team is a priority, playing on the AVP tour is out of the question.
“Any of us playing indoors, if we try to play two-man in our spare weekends, we wouldn’t be successful because it’s the type of game that you need to put in a lot of time,” he said. “When you’re practicing all week, you don’t have a lot of motivation after four hours of indoor practice to go play on the beach. It’s kind of difficult.
“If you notice when you watch us play on Saturday, we look rusty as we get our timing back on the sand.”
The women also started a similar four-player format this season as part of the regular WPVA tour. Three four-woman tournaments are scheduled in 1992--in Fresno, Hermosa Beach and Venice Beach. Each four-woman tournament, which features four teams, offers $10,000 in prize money.
It differs from the men because the same players can compete in two and four-woman tournaments. The AVP prohibits its members from competing in any ABVL event.
WPVA Executive Director Roxana Vargas says the four-woman tournament will take place on a Friday before a scheduled two-woman tournament, but the final of the two and four-woman tournaments will be held on Sunday.
“It’s kind of like a tennis tournament where they have singles and doubles,” Vargas said. “I believe there’s room for both formats. The purpose of the four-person is to provide exposure, so we want the top players doing it.”
Elaine Roque, one of the tour’s most consistent players, says four-woman events present an opportunity to earn extra money.
Roque, 32, was an All-American at Utah State and a former national team member who has played professionally in Italy.
“Personally I think it’s a great game,” she said. “The spectators are going to love it. I loved the indoor game when I played it because it’s so fast. This is a happy medium.”
WPVA President Linda Carrillo, also one of the tour’s top players, is a captain of a four-woman team. Carrillo believes the new format gives lower-seeded athletes an opportunity to gain exposure.
“This year is a trial year for us,” Carrillo said. “It’s something new. Maybe next year we can have a separate tour. But it’s something we want to keep within our association. It’s going to be fun.”