Association of Volleyball Professionals

Infobox sports league
title =Association of Volleyball Professionals
current_season =
logo =Avp_logo.gif
pixels =200
caption =avp logo
sport =Beach volleyball
founded =1983
fame =
motto =
teams =
country =United States
champion =
folded =
website = [http://www.avp.com www.avp.com]
singles =
ceo =Leonard Armato
TV =Fox Sports Net MyNetworkTV NBC Sports

The AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) was founded in 1983 by Leonard Armato. The organization started its own American beach volleyball men's tour in 1984. By the late 80's, the tour was experiencing tremendous growth, in part through the promotion of the sport by successful players such as Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos, Mike Dodd, and Tim Hovland.

The early to mid 90's are seen by many as the "glory years" of the AVP as the tour corporate sponsorship, and thus, prize money, was at its peak. This period was largely dominated by the team of volleyball legend Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes. The AVP also begun to hold women's events, competing with the WPVA tour.

By 1997, the tour was in decline under mounting financial problems as sponsors began to withdraw support for the sport. The organization entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1998.

In 2001, Leonard Armato returned to revamp the AVP. The organization united the men's and women's beach volleyball tours under one umbrella. The AVP became the focal point around which professional beach volleyball in the United States currently (2007) revolves. The international counterpart to the AVP is the FIVB.

The AVP represents professional beach volleyball via tours that are broadcast over television networks like NBC and Versus.

At all tournament finals, the players are introduced by Chris McGee, commonly known as "Geeter."

The top players on the 2005 AVP tour were Jake Gibb / Stein Metzger on the men's side and Kerri Walsh-Jennings / Misty May-Treanor on the women's side.

The top players on the 2006 AVP tour were Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers on the men's side. Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh-Jennings were the top players on the women's side. The top rivals, respectively were Mike Lambert/Stein Metzger on the men's side and Rachel Wacholder/Elaine Youngs on the women's side.

The current sponsor of the AVP tour is Crocs.

Other notable AVP Players are:

Official Anthem

"We Are the AVP" is the official anthem of the AVP. It was written by AVP player Mike Lambert. Lambert has played the song at many AVP tournaments.

External links

* [http://avp.com/ AVP official site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/avpsongs AVP Songs]