The Southern Pacific Volleyball Committee has managed the AAU Beach Volleyball Tour and junior program and is the exclusive operator since it's founding in 1994.
The tour consists of a network of events across the country operated by various tournament directors across the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico leading to the showcase events during the summer months.
The SPVC manages the major events across the country held in high traffic venues and destination markets including all events in Southern California, in addition to working with local AAU tournament directors to coordinate schedules, keep events up to standard and qualify teams to the major competions.
Gino Grajeda serves as the founder and president of the SPVC and the national chairman and tour director of AAU beach volleyball. His extensive experience in event management and roles with the board of directors of USA Volleyball and the Amateur Athletic Union, in addition to working with professional organizations such as the AVP, WPVA, BVA, Grand Prix Rugby, Surfing and other lifestyle sports properties.
AAU Beach Volleyball Events are the most popular tournaments in the USA. The professional atmosphere managed by SPVC tournament staff with canopies, bleachers, bannered center courts, officials, hospitality with television and extensive media coverage at major showcase events brings teams together in the regional markets and throughout the country.
The SPVC event management team has extensive experience in tournament administration, operations, media and public relations.
Beach Volleyball athletes are excellent brand ambassadors and many have participated in various promotions for several partners over the years.
Below are pictures used in promotional advertisments, catalog, poster or website promotions for AAU partners.
Beach volleyball is more than a sport but a lifestyle. The fun and exciting social atmosphere of the events brings the attitude on and off the beach.
The athletes who compete in AAU beach volleyball events bring the experience home long after the event has finished and often share experiences with peers
in social networks and associate the brands exposed to them as a part of the
overall experience.
The AAU Beach Volleybal Tour consists of open, district, regional, national and international championship showcase events. Click to the right for specific information on each of the major events on the schedule.
2011 AAU Scheduled Tour Events operated by the SPVC:
Hermosa Beach, CA
Manhattan Beach, CA
Huntington Beach, CA
Pacific Palisades, CA
Cocoa Beach, FL
Beverly Hills, CA
New Orleans, LA
Contact the SPVC for other event cities across the country
that are sanctioned AAU events operated by affiliated
tournament directors of the AAU Beach Volleyball Tour
under the auspieces of the SPVC.
El Segundo, CA
Hollywood, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Orlando, FL
Honolulu, HI
San Juan, PR
Ontario, CA
The primary target are 12-18 year olds (athletes) with a secondary target of 33-45 year olds (parents). These are socio-econmonic A & B consumers with solid purchasing power and a preference for branded products.
As importantly from a psychographic perspective, these consumers lead a socially active, healthy lifestyle with a high interest in travel and entertainment, fitness and sports apparel, personal care and nutritional products. Given the strong social aspect of these events, these youngsters are often trend setters among their peer groups and exert a strong influence in their peer purchase decisions.
AAU Beach Volleyball events are highly successful and reach an ever wider target audience due to high traffic locations at beach destination markets and to the attractive value of the property.
Media and television attention have added to the property with increased exposure each season in local and national markets.
The AAU Beach Volleyball program has been a leader in online technology as the first AAU sport to implement online registration, in addition to e-mail marketing and newsletters, facebook page applications, publications and on-demand video in an effort to keep up with market demands of the audience and reach the athlete's and parents expect of the premier program in North America.
Partners of the AAU Beach Volleyball Tour included various branded products and services including apparel, sporting equipment, automobile companies, cellular phone companies, personal care products, beverages and restaurants.
Some of the AAU Beach Volleyball partners included: Volvo, Hilton, Tachikara, Paul Mitchell, Brine Sports, 7-11 / Southland Corporation, Glamour Magazine, Sweety High, VB Rags, Kauai Bikini, Gatorade, Omstar Environmental Products, Cobra Sports, Evian Water, Breathe Activewear, Duke's. Good Stuff Restaurants, American Airlines, LA Cellular, Morgan Bailey and others.
CONTACT US FOR A CUSTOM PACKAGE
OF PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Southern Pacific Volleyball Committee
Post Office Box 3177
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
ggrajeda181_msn.com
310-344-4466
The AAU Junior National Beach Volleyball Championships is the largest and continuously operated junior beach volleyball event currently held in Hermosa Beach, CA.
In 2011, the event will mark it's 18th edition. Sixteen of those years has been in Hermosa Beach. With an extensive participating crowd and spectators, and include a sunny weekend in July, it makes for a spectaular event for visible partnership opportunities.
The event is televised for the Los Angeles market and receives plenty of press with reporters on hand from various newspapers and publications the entire weekend to cover the action.
Often held with over 40 courts over the expanse of the beach from the pier to the north, the action culminates with the championship center court located directly in front of the Beach House Hotel adjacent to the strand, where sponsor tents, media, and bannered courts exist for maximum exposure.
The AAU Junior Olympic Games were founded in 1967 in Washington, DC to bring together multiple sports in a elite championship setting. The event draws over 20,000 athletes over a 12 day period in over 22 sports hosted by a city or metropolitan area.
The games are held in multiple venues and are highlighted by the Athlete's Celebration where all sports come together for an opening ceremony event usually held in a major sports arena in the host city.
Beach Volleyball became a demonstration sport in 1998 and a recognized sport in 1999. The event draws qualified teams from throughout the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico from different organizations in volleyball to determine the Junior Olympic champions in different age categories. The beach volleyball event within the games is managed by SPVC.
Past Junior Olympic Games beach volleyball events have been held in Cleveland, Detroit, Des Moines, Knoxville, Virginia Beach, with the 2011 event in New Orleans.
The most popular tournaments on the tour have been the AAU Best of the Beach events. Orginally conceived as an option for teams to advance to when there was not room for all divisions at the AAU Junior Olympic Games, when it was played at locations with enough sand courts in non-tradtional beach locations, the event has taken on it's own identity and branding.
This event is open to title and presenting sponsorships and has always had such since the inception. The event is truly the "Best of the Beach" due to the high level of competition. Teams must qualify as a champion in one of the select AAU events in order to compete. All teams are outfitted in sponsor apparel in a showcase setting with high visibility and television.
The Best of the Beach utilizes one or two courts in one division, so all attention is directed to the feature court(s) at the event. Past venues include Beverly Hills and Hermosa Beach (at the AVP Hermosa Open) and future sites include Disneyland in California or the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida with a continued event in Beverly Hills.
The AAU America's Challenge has been held in the exotic locations of Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Created as an event to draw teams from different cultures in an exotic setting during late July in the 18:U Divsion. Teams from the mainland USA and Canada joined teams from the islands of Hawaii and Puerto Rico and other islands in the Caribbean in an event that not only includes beach volleyball but cultural exchanges.
The top invited teams compete in a two pool format over two days to determine the champion of the America's.
This event is open to title and presenting sponsorship opportunities. Television coverage in Puerto Rico (in English and Spanish) and Hawaii (as part of the Oahu Oceanfest) has always been a part of the event.
The Tour Championships is the season ending event in late August, open for title and presenting sponsorship. The event is held in Hermosa Beach and is prime venue for all high visibility promotions. Considered the second largest event on the tour after the National Championships continues to be a favorite of the Southern California athletes where all of the other athletes across the country return to school where California enjoys a few weeks of summer.
The Tour Championships is a competitive event and stands up for recognition as a champion along with the National Championships, Junior Olympic Games, and Best of the Beach and appears on resumes of top collegiate and professional athletes.
The Southern Pacific Championships is the oldest event on the tour. The Southern Pacific Association of the AAU sanctioned the first beach volleyball event in Manhattan Beach in 1957. Now with the junior beach program, the event has moved from Cabrillo Beach, Huntington Beach, Dockweiler State Beach, Knob Hill and Manhattan Beach to it's current location in Hermosa Beach.
The ideal location in Hermosa Beach in late May draws plenty of walk-up traffic and adjacent to the strand location, Pier Avenue promenade and Beach House Hotel give athletes the same high profile location of many professional events and contests.
The Southern Pacific Championships is the AAU District Championship event for Southern California and one of the major events on the tour.
The California Regional Championships includes the top teams from throughout the state of California and Western Zone. This open event held in Manhattan Beach, site of the first sanctioned AAU beach volleyball event in 1957 is one of the top events on the tour.
Events on the hallowed grounds of Manhattan Beach are always popular with locals and visitors alike. The location adjacent to the Pier and downtown area is excellent for all promotional activities, sampling and high visibility sponsorships with plenty of walk-up traffic and spectators at this annual event.
The Junior Florida Open operated by the SPVC since 1999 has been a continuous favorite drawing teams from throughout the USA and Puerto Rico. The event held in Central Florida area in Orlando and Cocoa Beach.
The event has been held at Walt Disney World at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Disney's Contemporary Resort, Orlando Sports Center and the Cocoa Beach Pier and adjcent beach.
The event is now held on two different non-consecutive dates, with the younger divisions in the Orlando area and the older divisions on the shore at Cocoa Beach over a period coordinated and held in conjunction with the AAU National (Indoor) Volleyball Championships at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World.
The AAU Huntington Beach Open is held adjacent to the Huntington Beach Pier in a high traffic area over a holiday weekend and always draws a loyal crowd. This popular event brings together Southern California athletes from San Diego to Los Angeles to determine the Junior Huntington Open champion.
This event is open to title sponsorship.
The AAU Beach Volleyball Tour is an action packed youth sport ideal for product branding and identification to an affluent market. The first AAU Beach Volleyball event was sanctoned by the Southern Pacific Association AAU in 1957 on the sands of Manhattan Beach in California. The managing team of the SPVC along with the support and history of the Amatuer Athletic Union, as one of the largest sports organizatons in the country makes for a winning combination.
