Cook on beach volleyball
Posted by devo on August 12, 2008
Natalie Cook talks about the progress of beach volleyball in this Reuters post.
The international tour has also blossomed since an exhibition event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
That year, there was one women’s event with $50,000 prize money while the men had $820,000 over five tournaments. By the Atlanta qualifiers the total prize money had jumped to $3 million and is now above $8 million. Sponsorship and domestic tours add to the pot although the total is still small change in comparison to the likes of soccer.
Cook wants beach volleyball to fix more big tournaments on an annual basis to keep up the Olympic momentum, adding to the biannual world championships and shifting world tour. “We have no real fixed facilities. We just put up stands on a beach or tip sand into a tennis court which means it’s expensive to set up tournaments,” she said. “I’ll keep beating that drum, but even with the Olympics we may not hit the really big time in my lifetime.” more@Reuters
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