Athletes of all ages from across the country and the world have come to compete in the Association of Volleyball Professionals, Grass Volleyball Nationals held in Gainesville Oct. 10-12. Beyond the competition, the event is boosting tourism and helping build Gainesville as the place for major sporting and community events.
Gainesville Volleyball has hosted the AVP Grass Nationals for the second year in a row. The event, which ends Sunday, is being held at the Jonesville Soccer Complex.
Over the three-day event, about 1,225 players will take part in the tournament. The all-time participation record in the AVP’s Grass Nationals is 1,250, said Taylor Wright, president of Gainesville Volleyball.
“We’re trying to beat it,” Wright said.
Wright said Gainesville Volleyball started hosting events in 2020 as a way to keep the game going during the pandemic.
“We couldn’t play beach volleyball anymore because all of the sand courts were shut down. So we bought a couple of grass nets and started setting them up for fun, and it just took off,” Wright said. “They all loved it, so we started running tournaments. Then we got contacted by AVP to actually host the Grass Nationals.”
Since then, Wright said the organization has worked hard to grow the tournament and attract players nationwide.
“We put a lot of time and effort into contacting players and working with the AVP,” Wright said. “Gainesville Volleyball took on the majority of the marketing side of things. Our director of marketing, Lauren Stefan, did a phenomenal job, really pushing the envelope with what we could do and how we could do it on a minimal budget.”
Part of the success in reaching a wider audience, Wright said, comes from the organization’s online presence, including campaigns, giveaways and posts.
“We leaned heavily into social media, and got people to share out stuff for us,” he said.
The AVP Grass Nationals tournament now attracts players from all over the United States and some from other countries.
“We have players here from over nine states and a few different countries — Canada, Brazil, Puerto Rico. We also have a player here from South Africa,” Wright said. “It’s events like this where we’re able to bring all those players together, and it’s really cool to see all those players come in.”
For players like Tiago Parras, who goes to the University of Florida, that diversity is part of what makes the tournament so special.
“I feel like I haven’t traveled the United States a lot, so just seeing people from a bunch of different places is awesome,” Parras said.
Among the international players is Iva Durdjanovic, originally from Belgrade, Serbia. She played college volleyball in the United States before spending a year playing professionally in Hungary and later returning to the U.S.
“Everyone is very encouraging, very positive, and I am seeing a lot of great volleyball,” Durdjanovic said. “Overall, it’s a great atmosphere.”
Her teammate, Kate Gordon, who is from Atlanta, said Gainesville’s welcoming environment stood out to her.
“Some tournaments you go to, people can be a little testy, but everyone here just wants to have a fun, competitive day of volleyball,” she said.
Saturday’s teams came from across the United States, with many from Florida — including Gainesville — and a few traveling from other countries.
The action was nonstop, with players diving for every point, teams celebrating victories, and energy filling the Jonesville Soccer Complex.
The event not only brings people together from all over, but it also boosts local businesses.
“It’s a good economic impact,” Wright said. “In fact, the hotel where all of our staff is staying, we walked in on Friday, and the person that booked our hotels was the guest of the day. There was even a plaque on the wall for how large the hotel block was.”
The tournament is also increasing business at the restaurants around the area.
“We went out to eat last night and ran into like 15 or 20 people playing (in the tournament) at one restaurant,” Wright said.
Gainesville Volleyball was able to make the tournament possible with the help of local partnerships, including their biggest local sponsor, the Gainesville Sports Commission, which helped fund the event and made cash prizes possible. The tournament has a cash prize of $21,000, split between the winners of the Open and Pro Divisions.
Although this is business for Wright, he said he loves the community and energy that the tournament brings to Gainesville.
“Getting to bring all these people from around the country back here, where it all started, and where I grew up, in Gainesville, is incredible,” he said.