BEACH VOLLEYBALL AMERICA (BVA) EARNS HIGHEST
RECOGNITION FROM INTERNATIONAL<br>VOLLEYBALL
FEDERATION<br><br>BVA Tour Named Official U.S. National Beach
Volleyball Tour by FIVB & USA<br>Volleyball.<br><br>SAN
DIEGO, California (February 28, 2001) --- The Federation
Internationale<br>de Volleyball (FIVB), the international governing
body of the sport of<br>volleyball worldwide, has
endorsed Beach Volleyball America (BVA) and the<br>BVA Pro
Beach Volleyball Tour as its official men's & women's
U.S.<br>National Tour for the sport of beach volleyball. The FIVB
has over 218<br>member countries & oversees the
administration & promotion of the FIVB<br>World Tour, which
offers close to $5 million in prize money
distributed<br>equally between male & female competitors. The FIVB World
Tour serves as<br>the official Olympic qualification
tour for the sport of beach volleyball.<br><br>In a
statement released by the FIVB headquarters in Lausanne,
Switzerland in<br>mid-February, Angelo Squeo, Director of the
FIVB's Beach Volleyball<br>Department stated that the
FIVB only recognizes one organization per
country<br>in an official capacity through its homologation, or
endorsement process.<br>Combined with the previous official
recognition of the BVA Tour by USA<br>Volleyball, the
national governing body of the sport in the U.S., the
BVA<br>Tour becomes the only endorsed men's & women's tour in
the U.S. by both<br>the national & international
governing bodies.<br><br>"USA Volleyball is pleased &
excited to have Beach Volleyball America<br>homologated
with the FIVB for both its men's & women's 2001
beach<br>schedules," said Al Monaco, President of USA Volleyball, the
national<br>governing body of beach volleyball in the United States.
"The athletes will<br>benefit from the BVA competition
format that utilizes the new FIVB rules &<br>court size
as they prepare for competitions on the FIVB World
Tour &<br>ultimately for qualification for the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens."<br><br>The BVA seeks to provide
high quality beach volleyball events for
U.S.<br>athletes to gain valuable experience using the rules of
the game, specified<br>equipment & format that is
used in international competition. BVA<br>athletes are
encouraged to represent the U.S. in major international
&<br>Olympic competitions. The BVA Tour includes 8-10 events
held annually<br>throughout the United States from
April through September. Events are<br>scheduled to
complement the FIVB World Tour, with the least amount
of<br>scheduling conflicts, to provide the athletes with the most
opportunity to<br>gain valuable playing experience in their
pursuit of Olympic medals. In<br>January 2000, the
International Olympic Committee declared that the sport
of<br>beach volleyball, which only achieved provisional
status in the 1996 &<br>2000 Olympics, had been
installed as a permanent discipline in the
Olympic<br>Program. Beach volleyball was among the most popular
sports at the 2000<br>Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The
Olympic venue at Bondi Beach attracted<br>over 20,000
spectators daily as the top beach volleyball competitors in
the<br>world competed before sold-out crowds.