Last week, Travis Mewhirter sat down with Taylor Crabb and Trevor Crabb to discuss the possibility of USA Volleyball hosting a one-off Olympic trial — and everything that’s wrong with it. The podcast, of course, elicited strong reactions, and Steve Van Zwieten wrote this counterpoint to the Crabbs’ and Mewhirter’s opposition to the trials.
I think we can all agree on the biggest potential downside of an Olympic Trials: a team could devote years of dedication to earning an Olympic bid for the United States and then fail to secure that spot at the Trials. From the athletes’ perspective, that could understandably feel like having an Olympic bid taken away after they earned it.
That is a legitimate concern, and any Trials format should meaningfully reward the teams whose international results helped secure those Olympic bids. However, it should be weighed against the benefits a Trials could provide to the athletes, the national program and the future of American beach volleyball.
International results should absolutely matter. They should help the United States earn Olympic bids and determine which athletes are eligible and how teams are seeded. But they should not be the only consideration.
A properly designed Trials could provide national exposure, sponsorship opportunities, compelling athlete stories and a chance to select teams that are healthy and in form when the Olympics begin.
The 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials averaged approximately 3.4 million primetime viewers per night across NBC and Peacock. By comparison, the 2024 Manhattan Beach Open finals averaged about 300,000 viewers, while the Chicago Open finals reached approximately 215,000.
A beach volleyball Trials might not match swimming’s ratings, but even a fraction of that audience would provide valuable exposure. It could reach casual sports fans and families outside the existing beach volleyball community while giving the public an easy story to understand: win and—if you meet the Olympic eligibility requirements—you earn the U.S. Olympic spot.
The event would also allow NBC and USA Volleyball to introduce the athletes before the Games. Fans could learn how their partnerships formed, what they sacrificed and which injuries, financial challenges and personal setbacks they overcame. Viewers are more likely to follow Olympic beach volleyball when they already recognize the players and feel invested in their stories.
National television exposure could also help athletes attract sponsors, strengthen their personal brands and expand their social-media audiences. Those benefits would not be limited to the teams that win. Simply competing in a televised U.S. Olympic Trials could become a valuable credential for every participating athlete, including those who do not ultimately qualify.
A Trials could also create a healthier national-team environment. Under the current system, American teams compete internationally wearing USA while simultaneously needing to finish ahead of other American teams. Players may share coaches, facilities and national-team resources, yet their Olympic futures can depend on another U.S. team performing poorly.
A Trials-based system could move that internal competition to a defined domestic event. On the international tour, American teams could focus more heavily on earning Olympic bids and strengthening the United States’ overall position. Once the Trials ended, the beach-volleyball community could unite behind the selected teams.
A defined selection event could also reduce the pressure to compete injured. Missing international tournaments can cost ranking points and potentially an Olympic opportunity, which may encourage athletes to continue playing when rest and rehabilitation would be healthier.
The 2012 experience of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser illustrates the concern. Rogers underwent knee surgery during the lead-up to London, while Dalhausser was hospitalized with blood clots in his shoulder and arm shortly before they attempted to defend their Olympic gold medal.
A Trials would not eliminate injuries or make the international season unimportant. It could, however, provide a defined date when athletes must be healthy and ready to perform, giving them greater flexibility to recover instead of continually protecting their ranking.
International rankings measure consistency, availability and performance across a demanding schedule. Those qualities matter, but the highest-ranked team is not necessarily the healthiest or strongest team when the Olympics begin.
In most sports, the team with the best regular-season record does not automatically receive the championship. It must still perform in the playoffs. The Olympics are also a short tournament in which current form, health, momentum and performance under pressure are critical.
The goal should not simply be to reward the team with the best average results over the qualification period. It should be to send the eligible American teams with the best chance of winning medals at the time of selection.
Rankings could still determine eligibility, seeding, byes, competitive advantages and the number of teams invited. The Trials should also be structured to prevent one upset from deciding everything. Pool play followed by a double-elimination bracket or a best-of-three championship series would require the winning team to prove itself across multiple matches.
International results would therefore help the United States earn Olympic bids and determine who reaches the Trials. The Trials would determine which eligible teams are best prepared to represent the country.
Los Angeles 2028 creates an ideal opportunity. As the host country, the United States receives one men’s and one women’s beach-volleyball Olympic bid and can pursue a second bid in each gender through the normal qualification pathways.
Any domestic Trials would still have to comply with all IOC and FIVB eligibility rules. Within those requirements, however, the automatic host-country bid gives USA Volleyball an opportunity to create a legitimate selection event at a major American beach-volleyball venue and build national momentum toward Olympic competition at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach.
There is a real downside to allowing a team that helped earn an Olympic bid to lose it at the Trials. That concern should be addressed through eligibility standards, seeding and meaningful advantages based on international performance.
But once the United States has secured an Olympic bid, eligible athletes should have the opportunity to compete for it head-to-head.
If we truly believe in competition, we should let the Olympic team be decided through competition.
