WHAT’S NEXT??
Great question! That’s the part of my Type A personality that is truly challenged with the beach volleyball lifestyle. Everything in this beach world is decided at the last minute and things change at the drop of a hat. It has taught me to be adaptable and change as the circumstances change. For example, there is an FIVB tournament that came up on the USA Volleyball page for international play. The FIVB schedule is the international version of the AVP where many countries come together for great competition all over the world. When I say it came up, it was not on the schedule one week ago and out of nowhere there it was. There were too many very important tournaments to reach our goals that we missed out on because we did not know they were available. Not to worry though, it is now saved on my desktop, and I check it about every other day! The tournament came up on the USA website on September 27 and the tournament is scheduled for November 13. That is a mere 47-day difference to sign up, hopefully get in, and plan travel. This is what I am talking about when I say it is imperative be flexible and try not to plan out too far.
Unfortunately for us, this FIVB tournament is labeled as a four-star. The FIVB tournaments are ranked on a 1-5 star level. As the stars accumulate there are more teams that want to go to in order to gain more points and to have the opportunity to make more money. To begin on the FIVB tour you almost need points, or you will not be able to play. Everyone has to start off with the 1-star tournaments that are in a bunch of random places around the world. You fly there with the hopes of performing well and gaining as many points as possible to keep working your way up the FIVB point totem pole.
The FIVB tournaments have allotted a certain amount of American teams that can compete in each tournament. This is wonderful and terrible all at the same time. We have so many people in the United States that love this sport and want to go compete internationally. So naturally, that puts a lot of pressure on who gets to go represent the United States. Like the AVP, these tournaments have qualifiers and main draws. If there are two American teams that sign up with enough points to be in the Main Draw or Qualifier, then they will go no questions asked. However, say there are two American slots open for the FIVB tournament and one team has enough points to make the main draw and the second team to go is undecided. The next team is decided with the country quota. This is the tough part, just getting in, because teams with points will make it in and if the quota of American teams is met with people that already possess points, then they will go and you don’t have a chance to compete without points.
A country quota is a playoff tournament for teams within the same country to see who will represent said country. Some country quotas are played within the United States, while other events hold the country quota in the location of the tournament. Some teams have flown across the world to lose the first game and be done. That’s it! No more games and you are now a visitor in another country, not playing any more volleyball. It does become cutthroat, but it must. It’s the tough world of competition.
Right now, Kristen and I stand with a whopping 0 points. Although we are well aware that we have no points we signed up because that is the next step to our goal in earning international points. Here’s the thing, everything is up in the air and why not try? We have to leave that weekend open for the possibility that we could get into the final FIVB tournament of the year. For reference of the beach world flexibility I was talking about, the tournament is in Itapema, Brazil on November 13-14. The site would be almost 5,000 miles from us and would take a 20 hour travel day to get there. We will find out if we can compete in the country quota on October 19th, exactly one week later we will have to be in Manhattan Beach, CA to compete in the country quota. If we are successful and the last team standing in the country quota, two weeks later we would be flying to Brazil. So as you can see it is very challenging to plan out more than 1 month.
So why is all of this so unbelievably important? Our ultimate goal is to qualify for the Olympics. FIVB points from international tournaments are necessary for the qualification process for our ultimate goal of the Olympics. We have been told over and over again this year that we have to get started playing internationally. Even if that means that we miss out on some of the AVP tournaments. We are willing to do whatever it takes! Word on the street says the FIVB schedule for next year will be released within the month!
Other than the waiting game, Kristen and I have two tournaments left on our schedule. We were asked by the great Madison McKibbin to be a part of a quads tournament. This will be held in Austin, TX on October 23. The idea of the tournament is so cool. I believe there will be prior tournaments in four major cities in Texas, whoever wins these tournaments will come to Austin and we will then all be competing there. We were lucky enough to be invited to play on one of the teams with some other AVP players. It should be a great time, playing volleyball and hanging out with some great people in Austin, TX. If you are interested in coming, good luck finding a place to stay. Formula 1 racing is in town and booked every single hotel within the area, therefore all of us players are staying in one big house on the lake. One week later, we will be competing in our final AVP event of the year! On Halloween, there is an AVP Next Gold tournament that we will end our 2021 AVP season with in Clearwater Beach, FL.
What else do we do with our time? Great question. Honestly, this one is very weird for me because now I am not traveling every single weekend. It’s now just two out of the four weekends for the next three months and I feel like I have so much free time. I hardly know what to do with free time, it’s a foreign concept to me. We are training, working on our weaknesses on the court that were displayed through the last year of competing. We have been in non-stop competition since June of 2020. Please take a second to realize that date. The time where COVID took everything and we decided to make something out of the nothing! Changed my life! Since then, we played in countless tournaments on our own, a full LSU Beach Volleyball season, and then straight into AVP competition following graduation in May of 2021. We really did not have a break so following the Chicago tournament we finally took a week for our bodies to rest and enjoy a vacation.
We are now able to dedicate more time to growing the sport and working with the kids in the Louisiana area. It really is amazing to be on the reverse side and working on a specific skill with athletes and BANG it finally clicks and the kid’s face lights up. I have felt that for myself and there is no better feeling! I just hope they enjoy and love this sport as much as we do. When we are not coaching we are brainstorming about what else we can do. Who will we partner with the next year? What new recipe will Kristen find that we HAVE to try? Where will we go? How can we fit in a camp within our training schedule?
As we have been reminded repeatedly, it IS ok to stop and enjoy some “normal” things. With that being said, I will be exploring all the wonders of New Orleans, visiting my best friends, learning to play tennis and golf, becoming a Saints & Pelicans fan, and even going to a concert or two. It’s off season, a great time to push in the gym and on the court all while allowing myself to enjoy free time.
We realize that in season we are constantly updating everyone on our crazy schedule. If there are things that you want to ask us about, ask away! We are happy to keep y’all involved in our lives!
By: Taryn Kloth
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