When Chase Budinger was playing in the NBA, he had a locker room full of teammates who were working together to win and support each other off the court. Since switching to beach volleyball, it’s always been just him and a single partner. That's changing this season on the AVP tour, with a new league format that is bringing a team concept to the two-person game, and with it a home city and a nickname and all of the other trappings of the more traditional team sports.
“It just brings that team atmosphere, that team bonding that is something that I’ve missed from my basketball days,” Budinger said in a recent telephone interview as he moved on from the Paris Olympics to the AVP’s new league. “It’s something that I kind of feel again, where you’re cheering on your teammates and really have another team’s back,” said Budinger, who played seven years in the NBA before reaching the Olympics in beach volleyball. “It’s really cool, because it’s something so different than normal beach volleyball.
” Although it has long been the most prestigious beach volleyball tour in the United States, the AVP has struggled to find footing in the sand as it tries to carry the sport's quadrennial Summer Games spotlight through the non-OIympic years. The new format is an attempt to solve some of the problems that may be hindering the sport's growth, including shorter matches that are more TV-friendly, and more predictable pairings to capitalize on the name recognition of it.
