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Wednesday, January 29, 1997

COMMENTARY:

UCLA's team should help propel popularity of the sport

Hye Kwon

Today, we're here to talk about a great American sport ­ one that was invented by a YMCA physical education teacher in Holyoke, Mass. in 1895. After 100 years of development and maturation, it has indeed become one of the most played and most loved games in the world.

Ah, the peach basket, Dr. Naismith, the canvas sneakers ... but hold your little horsies. That's not the sport I'm talking about. Brace yourself for this, it's volleyball!

Yes, the sport that's virtually ignored by the sports-addicted culture of this country, with the exception of Olympics coverage every election year. The sport that is caricatured as something inherently limited to beach parties and family picnics for its realm of appeal. That same sport has a history in America as rich as Dr. Naismith's peach basket craze. Just imagine that.

That startling fact brings an interesting question to the forefront of this discussion. What determines the popularity of a sport in a particular country? Is it the history of the sport, the marketing or the presence of a professional league? All of the above?

It's not an easy question to answer for anyone, but with a comparison to its peach basket sibling, volleyball's relative obscurity in America may be explained.

The biggest reason for volleyball's anemic state ­ which happens to be the biggest difference between it and basketball ­ involves the limitations of its marketing through a professional league. When you think of basketball, you think of the NBA, a league that has been dominating the sports marketing scene in this country for the last two decades.

On the other hand, there's the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tour that enters its 12th year in 1997. The AVP has come a long way in the United States in the last few years.

Back in the early days of the tour, when legends like Ron Von Hagen patrolled the beaches, the players played for free beer and T-shirts. In 1996, Karch Kiraly topped the total earnings chart with $492,081.

However, without an indoor professional league, like the ones that usually draw millions of spectators annually in places like Brazil, Italy and many countries in Asia, the American volleyball scene is limited to the beer-sipping beach culture that's typified by the commercials one sees on television.

Those of us who have any type of experience playing the sport cannot help but laugh every time a blond-haired actor with a fake tan and a frail wrist tries to hit the volleyball over a sagging 6 foot. But in the minds of the American general public, that ridiculous image is the image of volleyball.

Furthermore, the AVP's appeal is regional at best. Despite what the league would have you believe, beach volleyball ain't big in Cleveland, Phoenix, Milwaukee or any of the other non-maritime regions where the AVP has scheduled tournaments in 1997. Get real, Jon Stevenson (AVP president). Beach volleyball cannot succeed outside of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Seal Beach and other places that actually have beaches nearby.

Just take a map of the 50 states and locate where Cleveland, Phoenix and Milwaukee are. Hello! A little attention to detail please! There aren't any beaches in those cities. Get rid of that dumping sand-on-an-urban park business.

If there is one exception to the American apathy toward volleyball, it is Hawaii. There, the zeal and the enthusiasm that mirrors those from abroad are evident. I had a chance to attend summer school at the University of Hawaii this past summer, and I tell ya, volleyball is a religion over there. In July, a full month-and-a-half before the start of the season, the UH women's volleyball team sold more than 3,000 season tickets for its 1996-97 campaign. Their counterparts on the continent (don't say mainland!) would be lucky to draw 3,000 spectators for their most important matches of the season.

Those of us who have witnessed the Rainbow Warrior invasion in last year's NCAA men's volleyball finals in Pauley Pavilion would testify on behalf of the Hawaiian love for the sport and their undying devotion to their volleyball teams. It may be true that a lot of the Hawaiian love for the sport comes from the absence of NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB teams on the islands.

It seems that people in Hawaii love volleyball not because they're forced to, but because they want to.

Let's come back to the continent ­ to Westwood in particular. Here is the truth: UCLA volleyball teams have been the winningest teams in the history of collegiate volleyball. The women have garnered six national titles, while the men won their 16th national title when they beat UH last year. That's five more titles than the men's basketball team. In other words, it's quite easy to be a volleyball fan at UCLA.

This year, widen your sports horizon, ye of little imagination. Watch a men's volleyball match this spring. Better yet, try playing the sport. You just might like it.

Kwon is a fifth-year Asian-American studies and geography student.