Tuesday, 19 March 2024
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International Volleyball

12 stops, Austin and Florida get nixed

12 stops, Austin and Florida get nixed

The 2023 AVP schedule was announced Friday, looking both similar and a touch different than its first under the ownership of Bally’s Sports.

Most notable is the reduction in events, from 15 to 12, all of which came by trimming the number of Tour Series events, a justifiable move, given that six of the 15 tournaments in 2022 were for the lowest level of AVP professional.

The 2023 AVP schedule:

  • Miami Pro Series: March 17-19
  • New Orleans Pro Series: April 14-16
  • Huntington Beach Pro Series: May 19-21
  • Virginia Beach Tour Series: June 9-11
  • Denver Tour Series: June 30-July 2
  • Hermosa Beach Pro Series: July 7-9
  • Waupaca Tour Series: July 7-9
  • Atlanta Gold Series: August 4-6
  • Manhattan Beach Open Gold Series: August 18-20
  • Chicago Gold Series: September 1-3
  • AVP Tour Championships, TBD: September 22-23
  • Laguna Beach Open Tour Series: October 13-15

Happy 40th, AVP!

Why is the AVP beginning so early in the year, earlier than it has since many of the younger players were even born? Because the March 17-19 weekend, when the AVP will make its season debut in Miami, marks the 40th anniversary of the AVP’s founding, when our disgruntled founding fathers struck back at Event Concepts and formed their own players union (you can read all about that in Kings of Summer if you’d like).

Forty years later, the AVP, mercurial as some of those years may have been, is still the No. 1 domestic tour in the world.

Notably absent: Austin and Florida

For the first time since 2017 — in a full season not impacted by a pandemic — the AVP will not be stopping in Austin, Texas. This has, of course, caused some grumbling to the beach volleyball fans in Austin. It’ll also probably be a disappointment to Phil Dalhausser, who won four of the last five AVP tournaments in Austin, dating to 2005, when he logged his first professional victory with Nick Lucena.

Texan fans can likely find company in their misery with Floridan fans, who were treated to two tournaments in 2022 — in Fort Lauderdale and Tavares — before being nixed in 2023. To be fair, Tavares was an emergency add in December to fill in for Atlantic City, a September Pro Series event which was dropped in a hurry after the Tour Series event proved to be hazardous to the players.

Somewhat worth noting is that when Tri Bourne and I were polled by fans this off-season about which three stops we’d drop from the 2022 season, Austin was on both of our lists, while Fort Lauderdale and Tavares were on…

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