Volleyball tourney postponed until July
AAU junior championships was expected to draw thousands to Central Florida
The Amateur Athletic Union decided Friday to postpone its 12-day junior volleyball championships at the Orange County Convention Center to July when the coronavirus may be less of a health threat to players, coaches and referees, the organization and convention center officials announced in a joint statement.
The tourney, billed by AAU as the largest volleyball event in the world, was scheduled to start next month and would have been the first mass gathering at the International Drive complex since March.
“Upon further conversation and taking into consideration the ongoing findings of the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force, the Orange County Convention Center and the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States Inc. have mutually postponed the 47th AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships to a later date,” the statement read.
Roger Goudy, AAU president and CEO, said the organization has prided itself on providing events in a safe environment.
“Our goal has always been to host the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships when and where it was deemed safe to do so and with all necessary containment and mitigation measures in place,” he
said.
The AAU announced earlier Friday that it would extend registration and withdrawal deadlines past its original May 14 cut-off.
Last year’s competition featured 2,800 teams and drew more than 100,000 people to the convention center.
Nearly 50 shows scheduled for the convention center have canceled or postponed since early March as virus infections began climbing in Florida.
Because of the pandemic, blamed for 85,000 U.S. deaths, AAU had been expecting about a third of last year’s crowd.
Before it announced the postponement, the AAU’s earlier decision to go forward with the youth tourney June 16 - 28 sparked debate on AAU message boards with some parents decrying the push to continue with the tournament as “irresponsible” and “a money grab” and another writing “America is still a free country … Anyone who does not want to come can make that choice.” Most messages were posted anonymously.
Entry fees for the event are $895 or $995 per team, according to AAU’s site.
Some youth volleyball clubs had already shut down their travel team programs, including Top Select Volleyball Academy of Orlando.
The club had been unable to practice as a team at its Maitland facility since mid-March.
“Volleyball is important in our lives but not at the cost of putting people in jeopardy,” Top Select club director German Del Valle said.
He said he may reconsider his decision now that AAU has set a July date for the national tourney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will allow gyms to reopen Monday.
“This is a decision I’ve got to make with the coaches and the parents,” Del Valle said.
Ross Usie, who coaches the Top Select 18U girls team, said he doesn’t believe it would be feasible to reunite his squad.
Many are high school seniors preparing to start college. He said he isn’t certain all of his players would sign up to play this summer.
“There might only be eight of the girls that would want to chance it,” Usie said.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who has urged residents to avoid crowds, said earlier this week he was concerned about hosting the large group at the county-owned venue.
The AAU had contracted almost 1 million square feet of exhibit space at the convention center’s North-South Building over 12 days.
According to its website, the Orlando-based AAU put “numerous safeguards in place to help protect all participants and officials.”
Among the measures it planned were temperature checks of players before competition; sanitizing volleyballs and courts; and spacing courts farther apart.
Handshakes and “highfives” would be discouraged.
Each team would be limited to a groups of 30, including 15 players, five coaches and 10 chaperones.
More than half of the 1,800 teams registered to compete in the tourney had withdrawn recently, according to USA Today.
The Orange County Convention Center, the nation’s second-largest, is also trying to win recognition from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, which is offering to certify that big venues meet certain cleaning and disinfection standards.
The Las Vegas Convention Center and Chicago’s McCormick Place have also signed on to earn the accreditation.
The council is a division of the International Sanitary Supply Association, a worldwide association for the cleaning industry.
The giant Orlando venue has been mentioned as a possible emergency field hospital and the state has used a convention center parking lot for its drivethrough virus testing program.
Because of coronavirus fears, 27 shows at the Orlando venue have been cancelled, resulting in a combined estimated economic impact of $637.9 million.
Another 20 show have postponed, delaying an impact estimated at $425.7 million.
The AAU and convention center are consulting with Orange County government, Orlando Health and Visit Orlando.
“We care deeply about our employees, clients and guests, and we will always do what is in the best interest of our community,” said Mark Tester, executive director of the convention center. “We remain committed to the economic resiliency of our clients and appreciate the AAU’s continued commitment and support of the center.”
The AAU event is important for players who aspire to compete in college as collegiate recruiters are among the interested spectators who ordinarily attend.
But the NCAA’s Division I Council Coordination Committee extended its recruiting dead period through June 30 on Wednesday because of the pandemic.
A “dead period” means schools can’t host recruits on campus or evaluate them in-person off campus.
The committee said it will review the dates on May 27 and could further extend the dead period at that time.