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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, February 2, 2016 – Doug
Beal, who has been part of USA Volleyball for 46 years,
announced today he will be retiring as the organization’s chief
executive officer effective January 2, 2017.
Beal, who was hired as USA Volleyball’s CEO 11 years ago on Feb.
1, 2005, has been a major influence in the international
volleyball world and within USA Volleyball as a National Team
player and coach, administrator and CEO over the last five
decades.
“It just feels right to me that this is the time to step aside
and do some other things in retirement from my role at USAV,”
Beal said. “I am extraordinarily proud and honored to have to
been able to lead the organization for the past 11 years and
what will be 12 years through the end of 2016. I’m extremely
grateful to the USAV Board and Board leadership, from current
chair Lori Okimura, to Al Monaco, David Schreff and Adam Rymer,
for their collaboration, engagement and support. I’m proud of
where we are and the path we’ve taken to get here. I’m even more
excited by what I know the future holds for our sport and for
our organization.”
Among Beal’s highlights as USA Volleyball’s CEO are:
•Best Olympics/Paralympics
performance in volleyball history at the 2008 Beijing Games as
USA Volleyball earned five medals – three gold medals including
men’s indoor, women’s beach and men’s beach; and silver medals
in women’s indoor and women’s sitting volleyball.
•Established the USA Volleyball Beach
Office/Department, which now has 12 full-time staff members and
a budget of over $3.5 million, plus programming that includes 61
stops on the Junior Beach Tour in 30 of USA Volleyball’s 40
regions.
•USA Volleyball has ended each of the
last 11 years with a cash surplus against the approved operating
budget, placing the organization in perhaps its most stable and
positive financial condition in history. This fiscal performance
has allowed for the bulk of the funding of the USA Volleyball
Foundation and significant cash reserves and operational
flexibility.
•Expanded programming and staff with
a current operating budget of over $30 million and 80
professionals servicing over 325,000 members – up 68 percent –
during his 11-year tenure as CEO. Staffing has more than doubled
during his tenure.
•Oversaw the implementation of a new
streamlined governance structure in which the Board of Directors
was reduced by nearly half in 2008 to conform to suggested USOC
guidelines.
•Hired the last three Men’s National
Team Coaches (Hugh McCutcheon, Alan Knipe and John Speraw) and
the last three Women’s National Team Coaches (Jenny Lang Ping,
Hugh McCutcheon and Karch Kiraly). During this time the U.S. Men
won gold at the 2008 Olympics and 2015 FIVB World Cup, while the
U.S. Women won silver at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics along with
the gold medal at the 2014 FIVB World Championship.
•Served as CEO while beach volleyball
athletes have continued their Olympic Games medals performance
with three gold and one silver medal.
•Led the transition of USA Volleyball
formally becoming the National Governing Body of sitting
volleyball in the Paralympic discipline.
•Continually increasing resources to
indoor and beach High Performance programs to compete
internationally at the highest levels with success, along with
building a pipeline of athletes that strengthens the overall
National Team program. The U.S. has won the silver medal at each
of the last two biennial FIVB Girls’ U-18 World Championship
events, along with gold at the 2015 Global Challenge in the
Women’s U-20 age category. Nearly 100 percent of current
National Team athletes participated in High Performance. In
Beach High Performance, USA has pulled in eight age-group FIVB
World Championship medals. In both indoor and beach, these are
the first-ever medal successes for USA Volleyball.
•USA Volleyball bought its current
headquarters building in 2012. Further, the City of Anaheim was
established as the Host City for the U.S. Men’s and Women’s
National Teams where they train at the American Sports Centers.
The USA Volleyball beach office, now located in Torrance,
Calif., was created in Southern California and has continually
expanded with new programming and staff. A fourth USA Volleyball
office is located in Edmond, Okla., on the campus of University
of Central Oklahoma where the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Sitting
Volleyball Teams train and are located year-round.
“I feel great about the current health of the organization and
the terrific opportunities for the future,” Beal said. “I am
excited to see the next great changes that the sport is going to
undergo, and where it is positioned I think to continue to play
an increasingly large role within the educational structure as
well as the private sport environment in our country.”
Beal recognized the development of beach volleyball within USA
Volleyball as a top accomplishment.
“I think one of the things we have accomplished that stands out
has been the creation and development of the beach discipline,
the beach office and its staffing. The staff overcame many
challenges in developing broad programming within a discipline
of our sport that is relatively young and very entrepreneurial,”
Beal said.
Beal pointed out the successes in the last two Olympic Games
under his watch as CEO being highlights of his career.
“It’s hard not to focus on the accomplishments we have had at
the Olympic and Paralympic Games and on the international
stage,” Beal said. “I think our National programs – from a
leadership, structure and support perspective – are the models,
frankly, of the world. The individuals who have represented us
continue to do so in the most professional and exemplary way
from Hugh McCutcheon and Jenny Lang Ping to Mike Hulett and Bill
Hamiter to Al Knipe and now Karch Kiraly and John Speraw leading
our world-class athletes. We have been blessed with remarkable
individuals who do things the right way and succeed in large
part because of that.”
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of USA Volleyball, we want
to thank Doug and his family for their lifelong commitment to
the sport of volleyball,” said Lori Okimura, chair of the USA
Volleyball Board of Directors. “We want to recognize that under
Doug’s leadership, USA Volleyball has achieved significant
growth in many areas, has reached new heights in Olympic and
Paralympic success, and continues to break new ground in
important areas of sport in general where USA Volleyball is
considered a leader among national governing bodies in the
United States.”
The USA Volleyball Board of Directors is the process of
commencing a national search for its next chief executive
officer with the hopes of having the person on-board shortly
after the Rio Olympic Games. The Board met in Los Angeles to
confirm the search process, and at the same time examined
options for corporate reorganization in alignment with new
strategic priorities and goals for the corporation. In addition,
the Board and the executive management team will implement
several best practices moving forward to provide oversight on
day-to-day operations during the executive transition. This
includes Board oversight of the Department Operational Plan and
Board action calling for the approval of significant contractual
relationships looking ahead to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Quad. Beal
and Okimura will continue to work closely together with the
Board and staff to maintain institutional continuity during the
search process and to fulfill the corporation’s mandate of
transparency and open communication. The search process will be
announced in the month of February, and the 16-member Board of
Directors will make the ultimate selection of the new CEO.
“There is perhaps no greater contributor than Doug Beal to USA
Volleyball’s competitive success, corporate management structure
and educational philosophies,” Okimura said. “As CEO, Doug has
helped shape the course of USA Volleyball’s global success, and
has left a strong imprint on the corporation for the future.
More importantly, he has shared his unique talents with USA
Volleyball from top to bottom at every level of the game, on and
off the court. We appreciate Doug’s leadership of USA
Volleyball, and his dedication to promoting American beach,
indoor and sitting volleyball to the world. Doug has the full
support of the USA Volleyball Board of Directors in pursuing his
future endeavors. We wish Doug all the best in his retirement,
and look forward to his continued involvement in various areas
of the volleyball world in the future, including at the
international level.”
“More than anything else, I will miss the day-to-day
interactions with our fantastic staff,” Beal said. “Just coming
to work day-in and day-out is the number-one joy for me. It is
in large measure their values and qualities that have allowed us
to achieve the growth and successes that we have. This group of
wonderful colleagues, their commitment, passion and work ethic
is something I will never be able to replace in my life.”
Beal became a legendary coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team
after he competed on the squad from 1970 to 1976. He accepted
the team’s head coach position in 1977 and guided Team USA to
its first-ever Olympic Games gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles
Games. After finishing 13th at
the 1982 FIVB World Championship, Beal and his staff implemented
a new system and tactics for the sport – including the two-man
serve reception, innovative use of multiple backrow attackers
and swing hitters that transformed the sport.
“I have honestly grown up in USA Volleyball, from the time I
started playing in regional tournaments as a teenager in what
was the old Region 4 in Ohio, to a role on the governing side of
the region, involvement with our National Team,” Beal said. “I
have seen the sport really mature and grow.
After the 1984 Olympics, Beal stepped down as head coach of the
U.S. Men to become the National Team Center Director from
1985-87 in San Diego after he established the first full-time,
year-round men’s volleyball training center in Dayton from
1978-80. He remained involved with USA Volleyball until 1990
when he moved to Italy to coach the professional club team
Mediolanum in Milan for two seasons, winning the FIVB World Club
Championship in 1990.
Following his tenure in Italy, Beal returned to USA Volleyball
to become a special assistant to then executive director John
Carroll in July 1993. Beal was responsible for FIVB relations
and player development for the U.S. National Teams.
He held that position until 1997 when he accepted his second
tenure as the U.S. Men’s National Team coach leading the
Americans in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. Team USA finished
fourth in the 2004 Olympics.
Beal has been recognized internationally and domestically for
his accomplishments. He is a 1989 inductee into the
International Volleyball Hall of Fame and was a finalist for the
FIVB Greatest Coach of the 20th Century
in 2002. USA Volleyball honored him in 2007 with its Harold T.
Friermood Award, the highest honor the national governing body
can bestow on an individual.
“I have been extraordinarily fortunate to have observed, worked
for and with a series of other terrific USA Volleyball leaders,”
Beal said. “In every case I have learned and observed positive
elements of their style and accomplishments that I have tried to
incorporate into some on-going elements of how USA Volleyball
operates today.”
In 2012, Beal ran for president of the International Volleyball
Federation (FIVB) and narrowly missed election to the position
during the FIVB World Congress held in Anaheim, Calif. During
his tenure as USA Volleyball CEO, Beal has served on the FIVB
and NORCECA (North America, Caribbean and Central America
Volleyball Confederation) Board of Administrations. |
