The Karch Academy

With his beach volleyball career winding down, Karch Kiraly is looking forward to the next step in his career by opening the Karch Kiraly Volleyball Academy.
The academy, which is sanctioned by USA Volleyball, will start with two one-week sessions for high school girls next summer, one in Anaheim and the other at a site east of the Mississippi River to be determined.
Kiraly, a three-time Olympic gold medalist out of UCLA said he hopes to eventually expand his academy and offer sessions for boys, and for longer-term than just one week.
�This is something that I and others have been batting around for the better part of 10 years,� Kiraly said this week at the NCAA women’s volleyball championship in Omaha, Neb. �It started looking like my career might be winding down, and I kept playing and playing and playing. I’ve been looking to do something unique and very special.�
Kiraly, 46, said he had knee trouble on the AVP Tour last year, and decided that he’ll make this his last season, although he won’t compete in every event. He has also been doing TV work for NBC on its beach volleyball telecasts the last few seasons.
“As I make this transition, this year is a year where I’ll have more time than in last 20 or so to get to spend with some of these activities,� he said. �It’s yet another reason why the academy will work for 2007.�
Kiraly, who won gold medals with the U.S. indoor volleyball team at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, and the gold
medal with Kent Steffes in the inaugural beach volleyball tournament at the 1996
Atlanta Games before winning a record 148 tournaments in beach volleyball.
His coaching staff will include Olympic medalists Eric Sato, Steve Timmons, Troy Tanner, Mike Dodd and Kim Oden, and former Olympians Liz Masakayan and Angela Rock.
-- Associated Press