Olympic Gold Medalist and Hermosa Beach resident Kerri Walsh has told the Manhattan Beach City Council she won't be participating in this weekend's Manhattan Beach Open if rule changes are allowed. Just last week, the AVP announced it would be canceling the rest of this year's tour because of financial hardships.
City officials told the Daily Breeze last week the event will be a much more scaled down version from years prior.
"Volleyball is the main emblem of this city and the Manhattan Beach Open is a classic tournament," Mayor Mitch Ward said. "It won't be the AVP, but we'll move forward.
"We're going old school," Ward added. "Spectators will be right there next to the players."
From The Associated Press:
Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh is threatening to boycott this weekend's revamped Manhattan Beach Open because the beach volleyball tournament won't be played under the accepted international rules.
The crown jewel of the beach volleyball circuit is being run by the city of Manhattan Beach this year because the AVP tour collapsed last week from financial hardship.
Event organizers decided not to use the rules adopted by the Olympics and international tours to shorten the matches and make them TV-friendly. The biggest change is that points are scored on every rally, instead of just when the serving team wins the point.
Walsh said in a letter to the Manhattan Beach City Council that the rules are outdated and dividing the fragile sport.
Event organizers say they're taking the sport back to its roots.
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