Collegiate club volleyball across the nation will have the choice of attending one of two national tournament championships for men and women in 2010.  One tournament will be held in Dallas, Texas and the other in Louisville, Kentucky.  The Louisville tournament will be the first tournament sponsored by the NCVF and will have the world class support of our national governing body, USA Volleyball.  I unequivocally endorse the Louisville tournament because it best exemplifies the heart and soul of the collegiate club volleyball community and because it will be a tournament run by volleyball people, for volleyball people.  Moreover, all proceeds will be exclusively devoted to support the sport of volleyball. 

I am writing to provide a first-hand historical perspective about the national collegiate club volleyball championship tournament and share my thoughts about the upcoming volleyball season.  I have done my best not to embellish or exaggerate and to simply set the record straight from my very personal perspective.

 I first originated and staged the national collegiate volleyball championship tournament while employed as the Associate Athletic Director in charge of Intramural Sports, Sport Clubs and facility development at the University of California at Davis in 1985.  I ran this event long before the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA),  before NIRSA’s for-profit subsidiary, the NSC, and before the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation’s (NCVF) organized involvement with collegiate club volleyball governance.  I was the organizer and Tournament Director for the first national club championship tournament at UC Davis where a total of 10 teams from three states participated.  At the time, men’s varsity volleyball programs were being cut all over the country, so I believed that staging a national club event might help keep playing opportunities alive for male collegiate players.

In 1993, the national championships had gotten so large that I needed assistance to continue the growth and quality of the tournament.  It was then that I first solicited NIRSA to join with me in this effort.  Finally in 1995, some ten years after I started the event, NIRSA became the home base for the tournament.  We then invited women to join the ranks of the national club tournament.  By 1999, the event had ballooned so large that in order to continue its growth, it had to move off of the college setting and into a convention center.  At that time I felt  NIRSA would respect the grass roots nature of club volleyball, be sensitive to the unique needs of volleyball players, and support volunteers like myself around the country who supported the expansion of season-long collegiate club volleyball playing opportunities. 

However, what I had envisioned with NIRSA reached its apex about the time that the NSC, Inc was formed and the NCCS (National Campus Championship Series) was designed to take over the event, combine governance and revenues with other sports club national championship tournaments.  

Having been involved with the sport of volleyball since 1967, it is my belief that for many years, volleyball has faced unique challenges that are unlike most other sports.  On the men’s side, club volleyball has filled a void left by the limited number of available varsity opportunities.  On the women’s side, the sport has seen unprecedented growth, creating a surging need for more opportunities than can be served by current varsity programs.  For these reasons, the rules of participation, divisional structures and other governance matters must always be especially sensitive to the circumstances faced by the student volleyball community.   I have also always believed that in order to provide expanded opportunities, we must maintain an open championship that has the ability to expand from year to year.  I do not support unreasonable limitations being imposed on the size of the national event or resorting to regional qualifiers in order to reduce the size of the tournament and return to the college campus.  I also do not believe in combining revenue streams from other non-volleyball events in order to support for-profit entities.  The leaders of the NCVF share this philosophy.

I have participated at every national collegiate club volleyball championship tournament as the Director of Competition since 1985.  I will maintain that same role at the 2010 Louisville event and continue to work with expert and loyal volleyball constituents from across the country.  I am honored to have worked year in and year out with students, tournament administrators, recreational sport directors, school administrators, club league and conference commissioners, tournament directors, officials, sponsors, convention center personnel, families, friends, media and with local and regional organizations who have leant a hand to sustain the growth for collegiate club volleyball participants.   I have every anticipation that this core group will continue their loyal support of our efforts and that they will be front and center in Louisville this year.

That said, I do not support efforts to informally or formally lobby campus recreational sport directors to take away student choices, mandate participation in the 2010 NIRSA event as a pre-condition to the club’s existence or otherwise limit choice for students.  This very callous approach is, in my view, contrary to the best interests of the students and verges on being un-American. The concept of “choice” defines our national landscape – choosing a sporting event that best meets a given club’s competitive expectation is no exception.  Part of being a student sport club is learning to make those choices – how to construct a season, fund-raise, manage time and field a competitive season that best exemplifies the value of sport.  My advice to recreational sport directors is to allow your student leaders to choose the national tournament that best suits their needs.  I am confident they won’t let you down. 

 My involvement with the national championship event has produced many wonderful friendships and memories.  I have had the pleasure of working with people who labor tirelessly to make opportunities available for collegiate club volleyball athletes all year long.  I could not have served the national championship event as its Director of Competition for 26 consecutive years without the dedicated and expert assistance of some truly remarkable folks.  Each of my core supporters have migrated away from the NIRSA event to the NCVF event with me this year.  While I cannot speak for each of them, I am honored to have the same core group of supporters around me as we turn the page to a new chapter of collegiate club volleyball opportunities. 

   As you can also see from the many team endorsements on the NCVF web page (they have posted their own endorsements), we are indeed a very loyal sports group.  The NCVF represents the family of volunteers and teams whom have helped grow the sport of club volleyball for over two decades and who have helped it become collegiate club volleyball’s first national governing body.  This historic turning point has drawn the support of USA Volleyball and many others across the country.  Having just captured Gold and Silver medals for the USA, I am not sure how anyone could question the world-class reputation of this amazing organization.  USAV will be at our side in Louisville and will be working with us all year long to expand opportunities and resources for our collegiate club community. 

On behalf of the hundreds of loyal volleyball participants, and in particular those whom have volunteered countless hours over the past two decades of collegiate club volleyball seasons, I urge you to support the NCVF event in Louisville and NCVF-USAV efforts to expand collegiate volleyball club opportunities throughout the entire 2010 season.