Smith, Stoklos Set to Battle Officials : Volleyball: Facing possible fine and suspension for skipping tournament, pair respond by threatening to leave professional beach tour.

Facing a possible fine and suspension for skipping the $100,000 Seal Beach Open pro beach volleyball tournament this weekend, Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos responded with their own threat to Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ tour officials.

“If they fine and suspend us, we will not play in any AVP event the rest of the year and possibly ever again,” Smith said Friday from Almeria, Spain, where he and Stoklos are playing in the $250,000 Olympic year ’92 tournament.

“If they unjustly fine us, we’ll substitute AVP tournaments with FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) tournaments and help the U.S. Volleyball Federation promote the sport in the United States.”

Smith said he and Stoklos plan to commit to upcoming FIVB tournaments in Italy and Japan, and could skip the AVP’s final two regular-season tournaments, including the U.S. championships Aug. 28-30 in Hermosa Beach.

“If we’re not back in town next week,” Smith said, “then we’re not part of the AVP anymore.”

The AVP board of directors could fine Smith and Stoklos a minimum of $10,000 each and suspend them at least one tournament for missing the Seal Beach Open, a violation of the tour’s players agreement, AVP President Jon Stevenson said.

“It’s up to the discretion of the board,” Stevenson said. “We can fine them prize money. The whole idea is to take the incentive out of going to play in other tournaments.”

Smith said the AVP threatened to fine him and Stoklos $10,000 each and suspend them for three tournaments for competing in FIVB tournaments in Australia and Brazil last January and February. Smith said the FIVB events didn’t conflict with the AVP schedule.

“We went over there anyway and convinced them (board members) not to fine us,” Smith said. “The AVP was formed to create more opportunities for players. And this (Spain) is another opportunity.”

AVP board members could meet as early as next week and impose the penalties. The board consists of five players--Mike Dodd, Roger Clark, Robert Chavez, Kent Steffes and San Clemente’s Larry Mear--and Stevenson, a former player who now runs the tour.

“It seems to me that there is a conflict of interest,” said Smith, a former board member, “when a group of players can benefit from fining and suspending us. Suspending us can only help their rankings.

“The AVP is a multimillion-dollar business and you can’t have the players, people who have something at stake, running it. The board makeup needs to be changed. We need outside businessmen on the board.”

Steffes said he disagreed.

“The only people who have the players’ interests at heart,” he said, “are the players themselves.”

Smith said he and Stoklos met with Stevenson last week to discuss the possible fine and suspension. Smith said Stevenson asked Smith and Stoklos to donate the difference between their Spain winnings (as much as $75,000) and the $20,000 in prize money awarded to the Seal Beach champions.

“They wanted us to donate enough so that we wouldn’t earn more than (top-seeded) Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes would this weekend at Seal Beach,” Smith said. “We told them, ‘No way, absolutely not.’ That made no sense. We earned the right to be here (in Spain).”

Said Dodd: “I don’t think it’s fair to guys out here trying to win $20,000 that Sinjin and Randy are over there with the potential to make $75,000.”

Stevenson said players of Smith’s and Stoklos’ ranking are obligated to play in a major AVP tournament such as Seal Beach, which will be televised live today and Sunday by NBC.

“In order to protect our tour, to meet our obligation to our sponsors, we need to create the best field possible,” Stevenson said. “We need to be able to approve participation of our players. Smith and Stoklos have a very prominent image on our tour. They’re perceived as part of the AVP product.”

Said Smith: “I feel it’s important to protect the AVP’s rights. But they (officials) can’t bury their heads in the sand.

“I don’t know if Jon is jealous of us or he can’t see beyond his big ego to see what we’ve contributed to the sport. I’m sure that NBC and (tour sponsor) Miller Lite will want us around the rest of the season.

“Other players on the tour have been taking shots at us for a long time. It’s jealousy. We’ve been the No. 1-seeded team, we’ve won more money. Everyone takes a shot. This is another one.”

Speaking as a board member, Steffes approved of fining players for contract violations.

“But as a player, I have some trouble with fining people prize money,” he said. “It shouldn’t become policy.”

Smith said he and Stoklos want to promote beach volleyball as an Olympic sport for 1996. IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch is among the officials attending the tournament in Spain, and Smith said it’s a perfect opportunity for him and Stoklos to make an impact.

Smith and Stoklos are the heavy favorites in the 24-team field, which includes Newport Beach’s Steve Timmons and Steve Obradovich.

“The rest of the world looks to Randy and I as the elite (players) in the sport,” Smith said. “They don’t look at it as a great event unless we’re there.”

Smith, 35, and Stoklos, 31, have struggled somewhat on the AVP tour this season.

They won only two tournaments, the last one April 12 in Phoenix. Steffes and Kiraly have won the past 13 tournaments, and could break the all-time consecutive winning streak with a victory at Seal Beach.

But Smith said he’s a man on a mission this season, whether it’s on the AVP tour or elsewhere.

“I might not get to play in the Olympics,” he said. “I’ll be 39 by the ’96 Games and I doubt I’ll be playing.

“But I would like to have a hand in making beach volleyball an Olympic sport.”

Dodd said the tour needs Smith’s help with making it an international sport. The AVP reached an agreement with the U.S. Volleyball Assn. this week that would give the AVP control over which players go to international events and a say in scheduling them.

“The bottom line is that all of us need Sinjin and Randy’s support with this,” Dodd said. “They’re the ambassadors of the sport. This international development is a perfect way for Sinjin to contribute.”

But Steffes said he thinks the chances are “slim to none” that beach volleyball will be an Olympic sport.

Two teams from the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. tour also are competing in Spain. Linda Carrillo-Angela Rock and Nancy Reno-Karolyn Kirby will meet in today’s final, after defeating Brazilian teams in the semifinals.

The WPVA scheduled no events this weekend, so there is no conflict with the tournament in Spain.

“I think the women’s tour is looking at the AVP,” Smith said, “and learning from all the AVP’s mistakes.”

Last add Spain: Smith said the five-day tournament is split into two-sessions each day--10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.

It has made for some late nights.

“They have to split it up because it gets so hot in the afternoon,” Smith said. “The crowds come out pretty late to the stadium. We get about 5,000 to 7,000 a match. It gets pretty crazy.”

Smith and Stoklos were 3-0 in group play and advanced to today’s semifinals. Timmons and Obradovich (0-2) failed to advance.