"In order for U.S. athletes to compete with the
rest of the world in beach<br>volleyball, there is
nothing more important than for them to have a
domestic<br>tour that allows them to practice the Olympic format.
This is the reason<br>for our existence," said Charlie
Jackson, Chief Executive Officer. "The BVA<br>Tour
provides the highest level of competition of any national
tour in the<br>world, & because of this we can expect
our U.S. teams to continue to excel<br>at the next
level."<br><br>The BVA Tour features the top U.S. men's & women's
competitors, including<br>the 2000 Olympic Gold Medallists,
Dain Blanton & Eric Fonoimoana. They<br>are joined by
2-time Olympian & the BVA's Most Valuable Player,
Holly<br>McPeak & fellow 2000 Olympic Team members, Misty May,
Jennifer Johnson<br>Jordan, Annett Davis, Kevin Wong & Rob
Heidger. Olympian & 5-time World<br>Champion, Christopher
St. John "Sinjin" Smith will compete on the BVA
Tour,<br>to be joined by fellow 1996 Olympians, Carl Henkel,
Barbra Fontana & Linda<br>Hanley among others. Also
making the transition to the BVA Tour in the<br>men's
division are notable indoor volleyball Olympians, Jeff
Nygaard, Dan<br>Landry, Tom Sorensen & Chip McCaw among
others.<br><br>Recently, the BVA Tour has been featured in various
publications for its<br>unique & successful sales promotion
approach to sponsorship. The<br>organization has been
successful in creating an infrastructure that
involves<br>components at the professional, amateur & youth grass roots
levels, all on<br>a nationwide basis.<br><br>"Earning the
official endorsement of the FIVB is another major step in
the<br>right direction for the BVA Tour & our tour partners,"
said Lori Okimura,<br>Chief Operating Officer of the
BVA Tour. "The companies involved in our<br>sport
recognize the importance of the FIVB's endorsement & the
benefits of<br>working together with the National
Governing Body & the International<br>Federation to develop
the sport consistently on a global level. They
also<br>recognize the power of marketing behind the official
national tour, leading<br>up to the next Olympic
Games."<br><br>The BVA Tour is televised in a one-hour format on
ESPN2 & Univision Sports<br>among other national &
international broadcast partners. The BVA<br>professionally
produces each telecast under the close direction
of<br>Emmy-award winning Executive Producer, Brad Fuss of Brighton
Entertainment<br>in New York. Tour partners include General Motors,
SPEEDO/Authentic Fitness<br>Corporation, MIKASA, Outpost.com,
VolleyCentral.com, VolleyHut.com, Jamba<br>Juice, Park & Sun Sports
& Allsport Photography among other
regional<br>partners.<br><br>The 2001 BVA Tour includes stop in Clearwater
Beach,
Florida (April 21-22),<br>Miami Beach, Florida (May 5-6),
Oceanside, California (May 26-27), the<br>Mervyn's Beach
Bash 2001 in Hermosa Beach, California (June 8-10),
San<br>Francisco, California (July 14-15), Huntington Beach,
California (August<br>11-12) and concludes with the U.S.
Open of Beach Volleyball at Manhattan<br>Beach,
California (August 17-19) & the BVA Tour Championship in
Honolulu,<br>Hawaii (September 14-16).<br><br>For more information on
Beach Volleyball America, please contact Mike
Kantor<br>at mike@... or (858) 486-8659, ext. 350. For
press credentials for<br>the BVA Tour, please contact
BVA Press Director, Tim Simmons, at (303)<br>678-8484
or tim@..., or visit online at
www.bvatour.com.