COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 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 Jan. 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.
What Others Are Saying About Doug Beal
John Carroll, Past CEO of USA Volleyball (1992-96): “Those of us who`ve been USA Volleyball executive director and/or CEO tried to take steps to make the organization better any way we could. In his tenure, Doug Beal faced the same challenge and he took steps not only to make USAV better, but better than ever. By every measurable standard, finance, programming and competition, Doug established a new level of accomplishment. The purchase and renovation of USAV’s headquarters building in Colorado Springs alone is a landmark achievement for which he should forever be applauded. The sport and USAV will greatly miss Doug`s active participation.”
Marv Dunphy, Current Men’s Volleyball Coach at Pepperdine/1988 U.S. Men’s Olympic Coach: “Where our sport is today, in the United States and in the world, is due to Doug Beal. His vision, work ethic, creativity and courage earned respect from every aspect and every level of sport. Whenever I was with him, I knew that I was in the presence of greatness.”
Scott Blackmun, United States Olympic Committee CEO: “Doug Beal is one of our country’s most successful Olympic sport leaders and it’s been an honor to work with him. USAV is financially strong, volleyball’s various disciplines remain as relevant as ever to fans and participants alike, and our Olympic teams are consistent medal-contenders. Doug has a lot to be proud of and I’m certain he’ll finish out his tenure making sure our volleyball athletes have everything they need to be successful in Rio this summer.”