Federations Roundup - USA Volleyball Chief Eyes FIVB Presidency; FIBT Worlds

(ATR) USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal tells Around the Rings he’s hoping to face two or more challengers for the presidency of the International Volleyball Federation.

"The FIVB has not had a competitive election with more than a single candidate since 1984," says Beal, who played on the U.S. national team for seven years, coached in three Olympics, won a gold medal in 1984 and now serves on the FIVB board.

"That’s quite a while and therefore we haven’t heard different visions for the way the sport could be led and visions for the future."

That’s why, according to Beal, he launched his campaign for president Thursday in Los Angeles, where he sat down with ATR on the sidelines of the Fifth World Conference on Women and Sport.

"I think I have some interesting new ideas, and the opportunity to have a real election within FIVB coincides with a good time for me," he says. "I think I can help to lead our sport in a nice growth period."

South American volleyball head Ary Graca of Brazil is the other known candidate so far in the election slated for September’s congress in Anaheim, California.

Jizhong Wei of China took over the FIVB in late 2008 following the retirement of longtime federation leader Ruben Acosta and has said ever since that he would not be standing for reelection.

Beal says, if elected, he would expand upon the "wonderful" work done by Wei with FIVB’s development fund.

"Volleyball has as much if not more potential for growth, expansion and development as any of the Olympic sports perhaps, certainly of team sports," he tells ATR.

"The heart of that growth and expansion is the targeting of assistance to the 220 individual national federations."

He added that volleyball’s many variations – beach, indoor, grass, court, 2v2, 4v4, 6v6, co-ed – allow for different development approaches in different countries.

Beal also wants to better interface with professional leagues throughout the world and better include players and coaches among the FIVB’s various commissions.

He’s trying to become the first international federation head of an Olympic sport to hail from the U.S. since Harvey Schiller of the International Baseball Federation and Don Porter of the International Softball Federation. Porter still heads the ISF, but both sports were dropped from the Games post-Beijing.

"I think this fits in quite well with the international relations by the USOC. I think it’s expected of us," Beal tells ATR.

"We’re such a significant part of the international Olympic Movement. We have pretty unique resources and lots of history of success."

Bobsleigh Firsts for Team USA

This week’s bobsleigh and skeleton world championships are all about firsts for Team USA.

The hosts notched theirfirst-ever two-man gold with reigning Olympic four-man champ Steven Holcomb and Steve Langton crossing the finish line first in Lake Placid, two-time Winter Olympic city and now a 10-time venue for the world champs. Canadian sliders took silver and Germans took bronze.

Matt Antoine, Elana Meyers/Emily Azevedo, Katie Uhlaender and Steven Holcomb/Justin Olsen also won the first-ever team title for their country. Germany, who won all four previous editions, finished second with Canada in third.

On the women’s side, Vancouver 2010 champ Kaillie Humphries and Jennifer Ciochetti of Canada won gold with Germany and USA rounding out the podium.

Skeleton action begins Thursday with the women and ends Friday with the men. Four-man bobsleigh, the showcase event, will fill the weekend.

AFC Olympic Qualifying Update

Asian qualifying for the men’s Olympic football tournament at London 2012 resumes Wednesday.

Oman versus South Korea, Qatarversus Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan versus Iraq, United Arab Emirates versus Australia, Syria versus Bahrain and Malaysia versus Japan pack the schedule for this penultimate matchday.

South Korea leads Oman 8 points to 7 atop Group A heading into their clash with Qatar and Saudi Arabia a safe distance behind. Uzbekistan and UAE are neck-and-neck at 8 points apiece in Group B with Australia and Iraq lagging while Group C is also tied. Syria and Japan are the co-leaders at 9 points apiece, but Bahrain sits within striking distance at 6.

The winners of each group will automatically advance to the Games while the three runner-ups will head to a round robin for a shot at playing Senegal to book the last remaining berth to London 2012.

AIBA Funds Olympic Training Camp

A total of 64 boxers and 14 coaches are traveling the "Road to London" on the International Boxing Association’s dime.

AIBA is covering airline tickets, accommodation, food and drink, training facilities, training kits, equipment, insurance, transportation and other expenses for the 78 participants from developing countries now training in Cardiff, Wales.

The camp kicked off Monday and runs through March 10 with a second to follow July 5 to 24 for all boxers who qualify for the London Olympics.

"As one of AIBA's Development Projects, the Road to Dream Program follows the ideals of the Olympic Movement by contributing to the social improvement of boxers, and the dream of being competitive at AIBA's main international events and Olympic Games", said AIBA president C.K. Wu.

"It is also a tool to educate the boxers and help them to fight against violence, poverty, illiteracy and any other social problem in their country."

AIBA also conducted six similar camps ahead of its 2009, 2010 and 2011 world championships.

Written by Matthew Grayson.

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