World Series of Beach Volleyball in Long Beach is critical to the sport’s future in America

Former LBSU 49er Brittany Hochevar dives for the ball against Mexico's Martha Revuelta and Bibiana Candelas, during the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball in Long Beach Calif., Thursday July 24, 2014. Hochevar and her partner Lane Carico lost in the third set. (Stephen Carr / Staff Photographer) 

By JJ Fiddler, Press-Telegram

POSTED: 07/25/14, 7:14 PM PDT |

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Men's and Women's Sunday competition of the 2013 AVP Manhattan Beach Open volleyball tournament. Kerri Walsh Jennings shares her joy with husband Casey Jennings after winning finals. (Staff file photo) 

Golf fans have Augusta, race fans have Daytona and Indianapolis and beach volleyball fans can have Long Beach.

The popularity curve of beach volleyball in the United States never has been a straight line, and right now the sport is at a tipping point. If the scales are going to be tilted to the positive side, Long Beach and the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball may be that weight.

“(Outside the Olympics) this is the biggest event in the world,” three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings said of the series. She made her international return to the sand in Long Beach last year.

After a 10-year hiatus, Leonard Armato brought professional beach volleyball back to Long Beach in 2013 for a “festival” celebrating the sport’s culture with open tournaments, music and more. Only in its second year, the tournament purse is a record $1 million.

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