Old School Rules Bring Manhattan Boycott

The Manhattan Beach tournament celebrated its 50th anniversary over the weekend despite the collapse of the AVP. The long-standing beach volleyball tradition was carried on. But the weekend was not without its drama.

After the AVP folded, the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) put the event together in just a few days. A handful of sponsors were found and they managed to raise $15,000 in prize money.

Though that is chump change to current pro players, the tradition and prestige of the tournament along with the added bonus of getting your name permanently affixed to the city's pier for a win was enough to attract many of the newly unemployed former AVP players. Or at least it would have been if the CBVA hadn't decided to run the tournament with old school rules.

In the plus column, bringing back the old rules brought back some former stars including Brent Frohoff and Scott Ayakatubby who won several matches on Saturday. It also brought out an element of fun. Austin Rester, a 28-year old AVP player paid homage to the past by wearing yellow neon short shorts and a lime green neon hat circa 1987.

It may have been all fun and games, but some of the AVP players didn't find the decision so amusing. Kerri Walsh wrote a letter urging her fellow AVP players to boycott the tournament. In her opinion, playing by old school rules would take the sport backward.

Mike Dodd, Tim Hovland, Eric Fonoimoana and others did just the opposite, urging the pros to compete out of respect for the tradition. In an open letter, they wrote: "The volleyball community needs to come together and rally around this tournament. We need solidarity and a great weekend to give this sport a big shot in the arm."

There would be no such shot. In the end, many of the pro players boycotted the tournament, especially on the women's side. The men's side was a better attended with Jeff Nygaard, Brad Keenan, Aaron Wachtfogel, John Mayer, Matt Prosser, Austin Rester, Billy Allen, Sean Rosenthal and a few others hitting the court.

The eventual winners were Wachtfogel and Rosenthal, local boys who cherish the honor of getting their names on the pier, Rosenthal for the second time. The event was something to see, but it could've been incredible if more of the players had put politics aside and come out to play.

According to some members of the CBVA, the decision to make the tournament a throw back to the old days was one that was intended to be a tribute to the late Charlie Saikley, the man who ran tournaments in Manhattan Beach for decades, and to honor the long tradition of the tournament for the 50th anniversary.

But Todd Rogers isn't buying it. He was in Finland at an FIVB event, but in a recent blog post, he agreed with Kerri. When I spoke to him this week he said he felt the decision to do so was less of a tribute to Saikley than an attempt to bring more momentum to the old school movement.

Now, I've made no secret of my love for the old school game and I thought the decision to do a retro event was a great one considering the state of the beach right now. It added a nice twist and a look back for a milestone anniversary.

And it really felt like a blast from the past. Big court, side out scoring, no antennas, one game to 15. No bleachers, free admission, folks just sitting or standing around the court where the most interesting game was going on. Others were looking down from the pier at the great volleyball below.

The crowd migrated from court to court as one game ended and another great match-up began. It was a nice tribute to the days before TV and stadiums and glitz overshadowed the volleyball.

That said, I do think the pros have a valid point in their opposition. If the Corona Wide Open Tour with its old school rules was not a factor I think the CBVA's choice would have been a non-issue. But the new league has invigorated a small movement that is gathering momentum in this country to return to the volleyball of old and I think the current players are sensitive to that.

The game they know and have been playing for the last nine years is the game of the world now. To strive for the Olympics means playing the new game and going back and forth is not an option. For the moment, the movement only exists here in the U.S. The FIVB is not likely to change the international rules back to the pre-2001 era.

I do get the players stance. I just wish in light of all that is going on in the world of beach volleyball right now, that they would have been able to come together to celebrate the wonderful tradition of the Manhattan Beach tournament. It would have been one last great moment to hold on to after the AVP's heartbreaking demise. So much for happy endings.