AVP Women at Hot Winter Nights

The AVP's Johnsonville Hot Winter Nights stop at The E Center in West Valley City is rapidly approaching. The event features four female and four male AVP Pros in a best-of-the-beach format.

The AVP women who will compete in Salt Lake on February 14th are Nicole Branagh, Lauren Fendick, Jen Boss and April Ross. The Pros are pictured here in the order listed.

One of the interesting story lines on the women's side has to do with the fact that Jen Boss and April Ross played as a team throughout the 2008 Crocs Tour. You will get to see them play both as a team and on opposite sides of the net given the Hot Winter Nights format.

I'm hoping that we'll see lots of parents and their high school-aged daughters at Hot Winter Nights. Why? In part, because more than one-third of those who play beach volleyball regularly are women.

As importantly, with the NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics recommendation that sand volleyball (women's 2's) be recognized as one of the emerging NCAA sports, young women should be looking forward to opportunities to play beach volleyball at the collegiate level. That, in turn, should prompt parents to consider this new sports option and local high schools to prepare their athletes for these opportunities.

It is important to credit the women who have helped build the sport over the years, including the current role models who will compete in Salt Lake. I urge young women and their parents to come out to support these great athletes and, in so doing, demonstrate that the women's beach game is indeed an emerging sport.