AVPFirst Releases 2018 Tournament Schedule

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Jan. 18, 2018 - PRLog -- AVPFirst, the nonprofit organization of the Association of Volleyball Professionals, has released the 2018 schedule of events featuring over 140 tournaments across the nation. AVPFirst is dedicated to giving back to the community by creating access and equal opportunities to underserved communities. With a focus on youth, its programs are dedicated to the investment in future beach volleyball stars and to increase diversity in the sport. For a second year, the National Championships will overlap with the weekend of the AVP Pro Tour's Hermosa Beach Open, from July 24-29, 2018.  Key bid earning tournaments, including AVPFirst Zonal Championships and AVPFirst Gold Series event stops, will be held in Phoenix, Houston, Seattle, Austin, New York City, Atlanta, Huntington Beach and San Francisco throughout the season.

"We couldn't be happier with the position of AVPFirst right now," said Tony Giarla, Executive Director, AVPFirst. "Our competitive programming opportunities are exploding all over the country, our National Championship event in 2017 was unmatched and our efforts to create access for all children, regardless of the neighborhood in which they reside are positively impacting hundreds of young athletes each year through our Community Corner Program."

The 2017 National Championships successfully welcomed more than 220+ teams under the age of 18 for boys and girls, with individuals from across the United States, Canada and Mexico participating. Over 15 colleges and universities including UCLA, University of Hawaii, Stanford, CSUN, Tulane and others, actively recruited competitors for their collegiate programs while in Hermosa Beach.

Participants in AVPFirst tournaments are able to qualify and move forward by being a top finisher at one of the eight, direct bid-earning events:

1.     AVPFirst Zonal Championships (4) – large, open format events drawing boys and girls of all ages from across the country;

2.     AVPFirst Gold Events (4) – events created to offer the top girls' teams in the rankings a chance to compete at select AVP Pro Tour events;

3.     Or by competing in local events, earning AVP points and staying near the top of the player rankings.

All AVP Pro Tour stops will host youth beach volleyball clinics with pro athlete participants. Gold Series stops will feature Community Corner clinics focusing on the underserved communities. Past pros have included Stafford Slick, Jeremy Casebeer, Irene Hester Pollock, Kendra Van Zweiten and Jace Pardon.

All nine finals at the 2018 AVPFirst National Championships will be played on stadium court, and include a full introduction and production from the AVP team as well as live streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

For more information on AVPFirst, how to get involved or how to sign up for its upcoming events, go to  www.AVPFirst.org.

About AVPFirst

AVPFirst is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded to create a national pipeline for youth volleyball development designed specifically to create access for all children and their families, regardless of the neighborhood in which they reside or economic status. The programs offer a series of community clinics, training camps, coaching education workshops and junior beach tournaments designed to develop youth into positive, empowered citizens and to provide the necessary skills to potentially pursue a path as a professional beach volleyball athlete. To date more than 2,500 youth, ages eight to 18, have participated in these volleyball programs led by elite coaches and a large volunteer corps of dedicated adults and professional AVP athletes. For more information, go to www.AVPFirst.org.