This summer's AVP beach volleyball season is starting off with lots of changes. Only time will tell how they will effect the league's future.
Leonard Armato Resigns As CEO
The AVP announced the sudden resignation of Leonard Armato last week. Armato took over the league in 2001 and is credited with bringing volleyball back from the dead after a bankruptcy in 1998 threatened to end the sport in the U.S. Armato combined both the women's and men's leagues under the AVP umbrella, split prize money evenly and took the event from six events in 2002 to 31 last season. But Armato was never able to make the league profitable. The AVP lost 4 million in 2007 and 3 Million in 2008. Jason Hodell, formerly the Chief Operating Officer, will take Armato's place as CEO, and Armato will reportedly remain connected to the league as a special advisor.Kerri and Misty Take Summer Off
The 2009 season will have a new big winner as Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor take the summer off. Kerri is pregnant with her first child and Misty is recovering from an injury to her Achilles. Though the two-time Gold Medalists have been the main attraction for the AVP since early in the decade, the AVP will have to make do without their services. Their absence will leave room for the emergence of some new top teams and more parity on the women's side.
Olympians Lead the Way at Both Men's and Women's Events
If the first two events are any indication, it is clear who the front runners will be this season. On the men's side, Dalhausser and Rodgers came away with the two straight wins in the first two events of the season. At both events they beat fellow Olympians Sean Rosenthal and Jake Gibb in three sets.In the absence of Misty and Kerri, Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branaugh came through with the first two tournament wins for the women. Each event's final pitted them against April Ross and Jen Kessy, who they beat in three sets. This summer marks the opportunity for some new names to emerge as the season rolls on.
