Mike Morrison - September 2010 update

The 2010 professional beach volleyball season has been very interesting. For me it has been another year of improvement with some strong finishes and solid wins that make me realize my training is paying off and I have yet to plateau.

I recently made the decision to start trying my skills out against the rest of the world on the FIVB World Tour (FIVB stands for Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, the international governing body for the sport of volleyball). I just got back from Finland and the Netherlands after competing in some of my first world tour events. I got a taste of my first few wins in the qualification rounds and I am fired up for more. The talent pool is much deeper than the US tour, comprised of top teams from the entire world and many of these teams get enough funding from their countries to treat it as a full-time job from teenage years on. For instance, at an FIVB World Tour event, where most of the top teams are present, all the teams exempt from qualifications as well as the top 15 teams in the qualifier rounds would be strong enough to finish in the top 10 of AVP main event rounds. It will be a tough road competing overseas, but I hope to raise enough funds and continue to get selected by USA Volleyball to play in several FIVB World Tour events and international Challenger events in 2011.

Competing on the FIVB world stage is an all around amazing experience. Other than the high-level of volleyball, it also allows players to represent their countries and use their sport to see the world. I am stoked to get involved with this journey.

I have recently been selected to represent the US in Chennai, India at the end of the month in an FIVB Challenger event. These events allow me to gain international experience and FIVB points that will enhance my seed in 2011 World Tour main events.