Pros give boost to club program

AVP helps fund players' trips to Junior Olympics

By LEAH ETLING
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Dax Holdren, Jeff Nygaard, Misty May and Kerri Walsh weren't the only winners as the AVP Santa Barbara Open concluded Sunday.

The athletes of the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club, which lent nearly 200 of its players' services as volunteers for the weekend, will receive money from the AVP for their Junior Olympic travels this summer.

The club is sending six teams -- two girls teams and four boys teams -- to competitions in Salt Lake City, Utah and Louisville, Kentucky this summer.

Cost of the trip is around $1,600 per athlete.

AVP Cares, a new venture of the tour this year, auctioned off several items of celebrity memorabilia to benefit the club.

They'll cut the club a check later this week.

"The funds are for scholarships for players that are going to the Junior Olympics," said club director Ricardo Domonte, who was in the stands for the finals of the men's and women's tournaments.

Down on the court, athletes from the club's teams were shagging balls and sometimes even showing up on TV during the event.

Volunteers, even kids, are asked to work at least two six-hour shifts during the weekend.

Paige Craine, Aly Squires and Eve Ettinger, all 12, worked in the main court, where they were so close to the action that some of their favorite female players ended up autographing their shirts.

After their work was done, they hurried to get Cokes and then came back to watch May-Walsh play in the finals.

Walsh was the player Squires was most excited to meet. "She said that you have to be competitive," said the Santa Ynez girl, who has been playing volleyball for five years.

"It's a great experience, because they get to be close to the best players in the world and have access to areas that only VIP members and event staff usually have," Domonte said.

He hopes to continue a close relationship with the tour to bring the pro players back to town, even when tournaments are not going on, to conduct clinics for young athletes.

Behind the stadium, 13-year-olds Jason Buck and Jordan Dyer took a break from their jobs and watched the courts they'd shagged balls at be dismantled by a crew of workers.

"There was a lot of free stuff, hats and shirts, free food, X Box Games, and backpacks," said Jason.

He and Jordan both thought it might be fun to be pro players themselves one day.

AVP spokeswoman Courtney Leddy said that the AVP Cares concept was devised to give back to the communities that the tour visits.

Hotels, restaurants and guest-service businesses are obviously benefiting already.

"We always try to focus on kids or the environment. If there wasn't a beach, we wouldn't be able to play on it," Ms. Leddy said.

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