AVP Celebrates One-Year Anniversary under New Ownership

Today, I celebrate the one-year anniversary of taking up ownership of the AVP. This past year has been an adventure, filled with highs and lows. But throughout it all, my excitement and enthusiasm have never waned. I honestly can’t wait for this upcoming year and the growth of the AVP as the premier domestic beach volleyball tour.

The Highs:

Two Phenomenal Events: Last year, we held events in Cincinnati and Santa Barbara. When I talked with certain players, they said that those were two of the best events they’d taken part in for a long time. In addition, a lot of long time fans came up to thank us for coming back. That meant a lot to me as we had only a couple of months to get everything together. But despite putting up both events on relatively short notice, we were still able to fill those grandstands. To me, that’s a strong indicator of how much the AVP brand still means to everybody.

avp.com: After a long process, filled with trial and error, we were finally able to launch our website. Due to popular demand, we decided to launch avp.com without having our 2013 schedule set in stone. We wanted to keep you guys, the fans, in the loop on all our happenings, while establishing the site as the central hub on the web for all things beach volleyball. Know that we are continually working to improve our website, providing you with fresh and interesting content.  And as our schedule and more information are released, it will only get better.

Becoming More Involved in Social Media: We love our fans and their passion for the sport. Since deciding to become more involved in our social media, we’ve notice how passionate the fans are about AVP. We are inspired by your opinions, both the positive and even those of a more critical nature. The increased levels of engagement and interaction with fans we’ve attained through our social media are helping to make the AVP a stronger brand.

The Lows:

The AVP of the Past: One of the most difficult parts of this year has been trying to navigate the mistrust and misconceptions of the AVP now as compared to the AVP of the past. The AVP has a glorious and storied history. However there is also a certain amount of baggage attached to the name, due in part by poor decisions made in the past that led to pain and heartache suffered by both fans and players. Dealing with stigmas attached to AVP’s past has been a challenge at times. However the payoff of a renewed, revitalized AVP has been worth it at every step. There will undoubtedly be more challenges along the road to realizing our goals for the league, but I look forward to meeting those challenges and realizing our vision of an AVP we can all take pride in once again.

What’s Next:

This upcoming year is going to be huge for not only the AVP, but for its fans and players. We are dedicated to having five quality events that will feature the premier beach volleyball players in the world. It’s a privilege, not a right to play on the AVP, and we want players who strive to play and compete at the highest level. We want to be the best beach volleyball tour in the world and in order to do that, we are working to attract the best players in the world, from wherever they may come from.

As for the goals of the AVP, we want to be fiscally responsibly while putting on events of the highest quality this year. We want to gain the exposure for the players that they deserve, while also providing them an income so they can make a sustainable living while playing beach volleyball. The ultimate mission of the AVP is to provide all of these things so the next generation of rising stars can dream and strive towards being professional beach volleyball athletes. They need to have the confidence that they’ll be able to make a living and provide for their families while playing on the AVP Beach Volleyball Tour.

Finally, in the interest of full disclosure, I should reveal that April 2nd will always hold a special place for me. Not only does today mark the one-year anniversary of when I purchased the AVP, but it’s also my wife’s birthday. Happy Birthday Steph!