BVA TOUR SETS $150,000 CLEARWATER EVENT APRIL 20-22
www.bvatour.com

POWAY, CALIF. - With Olympians Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana making their
first competitive appearance since capturing the men's Sydney 2000 Olympic
Gold
Medal last September, the opening domestic event on the 2001 BVA Pro Beach
Volleyball Tour is set for April 20-22 on the Pier 60 South courts in
Clearwater Beach, Fla.

The $150,000 BVA Clearwater Beach Open will have a 16-team Main Draw for
both
women and men April 21-22. A Qualification Tournament will be held April 20
to
determine the final four Main Draw berths in both divisions. Clearwater
Beach
will host its first domestic pro beach event since 1999 when the tandems of
Blanton/Fonoimoana and Liz Masakayan/Elaine Youngs won the Gold Medals.

After successfully launching a women's tour in 2000, the BVA Tour has added
men's competition for 2001. Blanton and Fonoimoana upset the Brazilian pair
of
Ze'Marco de Melo and Ricardo Santos to win the Sydney 2000 Olympic Gold
Medal.
Ze'Marco and Ricardo had won five FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events in
2000 enroute to $231,000 in international earnings.

Rob Heidger and Kevin Wong, who finished fifth in Sydney after being
eliminated
by Blanton and Fonoimoana, will also compete on the 2001 BVA Pro Beach
Volleyball Tour, along with 1996 Olympians Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel.
Smith, a winner of 139 domestic and international events, is the oldest
elite
player in the world and will turn 44 during the 2001 season.

Prior to the domestic opener, the first of two events in Florida to start
the
2001 season, nine women's teams from the BVA Pro Beach Volleyball Tour will
compete April 4-8 in the opening FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in
south-east China at Macau.

Four of the nine BVA Tour teams earned a berth in the 32-team Main Draw,
while
five other teams will battle for a fifth United States berth in the "money"
rounds of the $180,000. A total of 48 teams from 19 countries have entered
the
Macau FIVB stop, including Sydney 2000 Olympic Gold Medallists Natalie Cook
and
Kerri Pottharst of Australia.

BVA Tour teams already in the April 6-8 FIVB women's main draw are Misty
May/Holly McPeak, Youngs/Barbra Fontana, Masakayan/Cary Wendell and Lisa
Arce/Carrie Busch. BVA Tour teams entered in the April 4-5 FIVB
Qualification
Tournament are Ali Wood/Danalee Bragado, Leanne Schuster/Nancy Mason, Liz
Pagano/Kristen Schritter, Angie Kammer/Jennifer Kessy and Dianne
DeNecochea/Wendy Stammer.

May and McPeak, who captured five Gold Medals last season with two BVA Tour
wins, captured FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2000 titles in the United
States, Germany and Brazil. May and McPeak also tied for fifth in the
Sydney
2000 Olympic Games after being eliminated by Sandra Pires and Adriana Samuel
of
Brazil 16-15. The Americans then came back to defeat Pires and Samuel twice
last November to win a FIVB Gold Medal in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Youngs, Masakayan, Fontana and Arce just missed qualifying for the Sydney
2000
Olympic Games for the United States. Youngs and Masakayan won three FIVB
titles last season enroute to $119,000 in international earnings. Arce and
Fontana, the ninth-ranked team internationally, won two BVA Tour events in
California last season. Fontana also won the BVA's "Queen of the Beach"
competition last October in Las Vegas, Nev.

The BVA Tour team of Annett Davis/Jennifer Johnson Jordan will forgo
competition this season as both players are expecting their first child.
Davis, who is married to world-class swimmer Byron Davis, is due in June.
Johnson Jordan, married to former UCLA wide-receiver Kevin Jordan and the
daughter of Olympic Gold Medalist Rafer Johnson, is due in October.

Winners of three Gold Medals last season, including two BVA Tour titles and
an
international crown in France, Davis and Johnson Jordan finished fifth at
the
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games where they were eliminated by Yukiko Takahashi and
Teru Saiki of Japan 15-9. Although Davis and Johnson Jordan will not
compete
on the BVA Tour during their pregnancies, both are continuing weight
training
and conditioning, and expect to be back on the both the BVA Tour and FIVB
circuits for the 2002 season

BEACH VOLLEYBALL AMERICA - The BVA Pro Beach Volleyball Tour is beginning it
second season of competition with the United States' newest professional
league
adding men's play in 2001 after staging seven women's events during its
inaugural campaign in 2000. The BVA Tour is a professional beach volleyball
organization specializing in the production of a nationwide tour and
professional sports events. The BVA Tour "will provide a marketing platform
for companies to link their brand with some of the best role models in
professional sports and the active, healthy lifestyle that defines beach
volleyball. The BVA Tour will provide elite beach volleyball athletes with
opportunities to compete in the United States and prepare for major
international and Olympic competition."

BVA TOUR RECOGNIZED - The Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB),
the
international governing body of the sport of volleyball worldwide, has
endorsed
the BVA and the BVA Pro Beach Volleyball Tour as its official women's and
men's
U. S. National Tour for the sport of beach volleyball. The FIVB has over
218
member countries and oversees the administration and promotion of the FIVB
Beach Volleyball World Tour, which offers close to $5 million in prize money
distributed equally between female and male competitors. The FIVB World
Tour
serves as the official Olympic qualification tour for the sport of beach
volleyball. In January 2001, the International Olympic Committee declared
that
the sport of beach volleyball, which only achieved provisional status in the
1996 and 2000 Olympics, had been installed as a permanent discipline in the
Olympic Program. Beach volleyball was among the most popular sports at the
2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The Olympic venue at Bondi Beach
attracted
over 20,000 spectators daily as the top beach volleyball competitors in the
world competed before sold-out crowds.

2001 SCHEDULE (Dates and venues are subject to change) - After staging all
of
2000 events in Southern California, the BVA Tour will branch out in 2001
with
events in California, Florida and Hawaii.

Date, Site, City, State

April 20-22, Pier 60 South, Clearwater, Fla.
May 4-6, Lummus Park, South Beach, Miami Beach, Fla.
May 25-27, Pier Plaza, Oceanside, Calif.
June 7-10, Mervyn's California Beach Bash 2001 at The Pier (owned and
operated
by IMG Event Source), Hermosa Beach, Calif.
July 13-15, To be determined, San Francisco, Calif.
August 10-12, The Pier, Huntington Beach, Calif.
August 17-19, The BVA U. S. Open of Beach Volleyball at The Pier, Southern
California
September 14-16, The BVA Tour Championship at Fort DeRussy Beach, Honolulu,
Hi.

CLEARWATER REVIVAL - Clearwater has been the site of five previous women's
pro
beach events, including a 1995 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event. The
United States placed second, third and fourth behind Brazil's Sandra Pires
and
Jackie Silva, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Gold Medallists, in the international
event. The last domestic women's event was in 1999 when Liz Masakayan and
Elaine Youngs defeated Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan in the finals.
Clearwater has been the site of 19 previous men's pro beach events,
including a
1995 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event. The United States' Bruk
Vandeweghe and Jeff Williams placed third behind two teams from Brazil. The
last domestic men's event was in 1999 when Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimonaa,
the Sydney 2000 Olympic Gold Medallists, defeated Karch Kiraly and Adam
Johnson
in the finals.

BVA Clearwater Beach Open

Dates - Thursday-Sunday, April 19-22, 2001
Location - Clearwater Beach, Fla.
Site - South of Pier 60
Ticket Information - FREE TO THE PUBLIC

Site Directions - From the Tampa/Clearwater International Airport: Exit the
airport on I-60 Courtney Campbell Causeway towards Clearwater. Continue on
the
causeway for approximately 40-45 minutes into downtown Clearwater. Follow
directional signs to Clearwater Beach.

Public Parking - Public parking is available in the lot at Pier 60 and on
Gulfview Drive. Fees are subject to change. Limited metered parking is
available on Gulfview Drive adjacent to the site.

Athletes Expected to Appear

Men - Sydney 2000 Olympic Gold Medallists Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana,
bench legend and 1996 Atlanta Olympian Sinjin Smith, 1996 Atlanta Olympian
Carl
Henkel, Sydney 2000 Olympians Rob Heidger and Kevin Wong along with Jeff
Nygaard, Dan Landry, Chip McCaw, Tom Sorensen, Jim Van Zwieten, Gaston
Macau,
Chad Turner, Adam Roberts, Brian Soldano, Bill Maik and other top ranked U.
S.
athletes.

Women - Sydney 2000 Olympians Misty May and Holly McPeak, 1996 Atlanta
Olympian
and 2000 Queen of the Beach, Barbra Fontana, Lisa Arce, Leanne Schuster,
Katy
Eldridge, Stephanie Cox, Carrie Busch, Jennifer Meredith, Nancy Mason and
Rachel Wacholder and top ranked U. S. athletes.

Activities Schedule

FREE BVA Play with the Pros Youth Clinic, Time to be announced, Thursday,
April
19
Contact Molly Nye at the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, 813/350-6557,
mnye@...
Media Day, Time to be announced, Friday, April 20
Qualification Tournament, 8 a.m., Friday, April 20
Main Draw, 8 a.m., Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22

Prize Purse - $150,000/$75,000 per gender

Place - Payout - per team/Per Gender
1st - $15,000, Gold Medal
2nd - $9,500, Silver Medal
3rd - $7,500, Bronze Medal
4th - $5,250, (1 team)
5th - $4,125, (2 teams)
7th - $3,750, (2 teams)
9th - $3,000, (4 teams)
13th - $2,500, (4 teams)

Format - The Qualification Tournament will feature a maximum of 32-teams per
gender, in a single elimination format. Four (4) teams will advance to the
Main
Draw Tournament. The Main Draw Tournament will be played in a double
elimination format, Olympic cross-over with 16 teams per gender. 10 teams
per
gender will be pre-seeded into the Main Draw, with a maximum of 2 additional
teams entered via BVA wild card (optional).

Organizing Committee - Florida 2012, City of Clearwater, Tampa Bay Sports
Commission, Tampa Bay Volleyball

Promoter - Gino Ferraro, Pro-Motions Sports Marketing, 954/316-6642,
gino@..., www.flbeachvolleyball.com

Volunteer Information - Please contact Laura Echolds (laura@...,
858/486-8659) for more details. Interested volunteers can also register on
site by 7:30 a.m., Friday, April 20. Volunteers will receive free BVA Tour
merchandise, priority seating for the championship rounds of play, and the
opportunity to work alongside the top U.S. beach volleyball athletes all
weekend long.

Television - ESPN 2 (tape delayed). Please check local listings for
broadcast times.

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