City Organized the Open on a 'Shoestring' Budget

A month ago, "plan B" for the Manhattan Beach Open was already in the works. After seeing the first signs of financial woes from the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), city officials began to brace for the worst-case scenario.

Then the phone call came.

On Aug. 13, the AVP notified the city that it would no longer run the Open. That same night, the city told Patch that the show would go on, sans AVP.

The week before the Open, tournament organizers hustled. Decisions hinged on the fact that this would be the 50th anniversary of the hallowed ground zero of beach volleyball.

"It was a challenge just trying to piece everything together in that short time period," said Mark Leyman, the city's senior recreation manager. "It was somewhat overwhelming. Looking back on it now, it was great to see the outpouring of support."

After pulling together last-minute resources, the city managed the Open on a "shoestring budget," according to Richard Gill, the city's Parks & Recreation director. Total expenses and sponsorships came to an estimated $31,450, a fraction of the $350,000 that the AVP had told the city it spent on the event in previous years.

What ensued behind the scenes was a flurry of back-and-forth discussions among organizers, sponsors and AVP players.

Over the weekend of the 13th, Leyman teamed up with J. Parker Saikley and began hammering out the details, including rules for qualifying matches and registration and even issues about Porta-Potties.

By Monday morning, the city received a surprise call.

Twelve + Highland, a downtown restaurant, called and offered a $5,000 sponsorship. Later in the week, two other businesses stepped forward. Waboba, which makes balls that skim on water, and Nectar Accessories, which produces accessories for cell phones, each gave $5,000. The California Beach Volleyball Association, which helped organize online registrations, contributed $1,450. All sponsorships became prize money for winning players.

The city's expenses included paying for firefighters, police officers and official referees for Sunday's games, roughly estimated at $15,000, Gill said.

The city received $9,000 from registration fees to help cover costs. The Parks & Recreation Department will pay the difference, Leyman said.

Renee Smith-Cleary, founder and president of Nectar, said her decision to sponsor was based on her fondness for volleyball. She had played indoor volleyball in college, later hitting the sands to play old school beach volleyball. She also competed in Sunday's Open.

After Saikley announced that the game format would revert to old school play, which included longer courts and the elimination of grandstanding, some players did not warm to the changes.

Some, such as Kerri Walsh and Jake Gibb, publicly expressed their disagreement with the format and refrained from participating. Other players told the city that they were being pressured to withdraw, according to Gill.

Some had criticized organizers for veering from rules consistent with the AVP and the Federation Internationale de Volleyball. Players had once relied on the AVP scoring system to earn points that qualify them for the Olympics. Many told the city that the old school, non-professional mode of the Open would not suffice, Gill said.

On behalf of the city, the AVP sent mass e-mails to its members to rally players together for the Open.

"We still wanted to try to get AVP players to be part of this because it really gives it legitimacy," Gill said. "Or else it would be, as Charlie Saikley used to say, 'It's just the best of the rest.' "

Many pro careers are up in the air while USA Volleyball determines qualification procedures to be approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

"It's just a matter of figuring out what the format is going to be and how important international competition is going to be," said BJ Evans, a spokeswoman for USA Volleyball.

Other pieces simply fell into place.

In response to some players saying they would referee their own games to save the city money, official AVP referees said they would volunteer Saturday and Sunday morning until noon. The city is paying the referees $7,500 for judging the Sunday afternoon games, Gill said. A team of AVP doctors and physical therapists also volunteered their time.

Though many were initially skeptical of the stripped-down courts, others embraced the intimacy of the two-day event. City estimates put attendance at 5,000 people.

Without the stadium seating, spectators sprawled around the edges of the courts on lounge chairs and towels. After seeing his friend slam down a spike, one fan stood up, raised a trumpet to his lips and belted out a congratulatory melody. When he finished his solo salute, the audience playfully cheered and clapped.

Matt Prosser, an AVP player who placed third in the Open with partner John Mayer, said he enjoyed the community feel of the tournament, having grown up playing on larger courts.

"Overall, the tournament was great," Prosser said. "It was a lot of fun. It was a real grassroots kind of tournament, real organic, real old school. It was a great environment to play in."

Plans for next year's Open remain uncertain, as city officials said it will depend on the revival of the AVP or another organization stepping in as a replacement.

Prosser said the low-key Open was fun for a one-time competition, but he prefers to play by professional rules.

"I'll be optimistic as to the tour coming back with rally scoring," Prosser said. "That's how they do it in the Olympics."