THE NATURAL


Todd Rogers makes being
an AVP superstar look easy.

By Mike Miazga

Photos by Jason Olive

Todd Rogers’ wife, Melissa, grew up on a cattle ranch.

And the couple’s 8-year-old daughter, Hannah, is involved with horses as well.

Thus, one would assume by the photo that is included in this story of Rogers standing with Cash, the family’s 10-year-old horse, that the AVP superstar is also a veteran horse connoisseur.
Not the case.

It was just Rogers doing what he does best—making things look natural.

“We’ve tried to convince Todd to get on Cash,” laughed Melissa Rogers. “It’s pretty comical. He’s comfortable around animals, but that was his first one-on-one encounter with Cash. I told him, `This is how you have to hold the lead rope.’ It was a quick, impromptu lesson. He did great.”

But Rogers needs no lessons when it comes to beach volleyball. A 12-year veteran, the Solvang, Calif., resident has fashioned himself a career that has skyrocketed tremendously in recent times.

Since starting full-time on the tour in 1997, the 33-year-old Rogers has racked up 22 victories and a total of 50 podium finishes—impressive numbers for any player.

But 13 of those triumphs have come in the last 19 months. The cannonade began with Rogers and former partner Sean Scott winning the last three AVP team tournaments in 2005.

The 6’2” defensive stalwart switched partners and is now teaming with up-and-coming big man Phil Dalhausser. The Rogers-Dalhausser unit proceeded to win eight AVP events last year and broke an American drought overseas by winning the Austria Grand Slam event (it was the first U.S. men’s victory on the FIVB circuit since 2003). Rogers won a ninth AVP title last year at the Gods and Goddesses event in Las Vegas.

Thanks to that late-season flurry with Scott, Rogers earned a career-best $81,150 in 2005 on the AVP tour. That turned out to be chump change compared to the $163,975 Rogers earned last year on the AVP circuit. He also pocketed $49,350 internationally.

“Todd’s a solid and consistent player,” said the 6’9” Dalhausser. “He doesn’t do anything too flashy. He’s a real intelligent player who doesn’t make many mistakes.”

Dalhausser, a native of Orlando, Fla., who now resides in Rogers’ hometown of Santa Barbara, never had a formal beach coach prior to teaming with Rogers.

“I’ve learned a lot from him,” said Dalhausser, who was named the most improved player on both the AVP and FIVB tours in 2006. “I think that’s why we had such a good year. He’s shown me a lot of things. You learn little tidbits over time. He let me in on those a little earlier.”

Rogers, who played indoors at UC Santa Barbara and was later an assistant coach to longtime Gaucho’s headman Ken Preston for six years, says Dalhausser has been a prized pupil.

“It’s more of a tribute to Phil taking what I had to say and applying it and doing it in games,” said Rogers, the 2006 Volleyball AVP most valuable player. “I love to coach. I’ve coached all my life. I need to get my fix in through Phil. He’s a vessel that needs to be filled up with volleyball knowledge. It’s amazing how much he has learned.”

But teaming up with Dalhausser involved a change in strategy for Rogers.

“My game didn’t necessarily change,” said Rogers, who has earned the AVP’s top defensive honor on the men’s side in each of the last three years.

“The way people looked at the team changed.
Playing with Sean for four years, he got the majority of the serves. I looked at it as my job to get him as good of sets as possible and be the point guy and focus on defense. With Phil, the roles are reversed. For us to be effective, I have to pass real well so Phil can get his hands on the ball. I have to make sure we sideout. His big block makes a difference. I knew playing with Phil that I would have to jump a lot more and take a lot more swings. I prepared my body to do that. The only thing that’s changed is what my role on the team is.”

The success the duo enjoyed in 2006 is something that took Rogers somewhat by surprise.

“I did think it would turn out to be quite positive. If I didn’t think that I would never have made the move,” said Rogers. “I didn’t expect it to happen as quickly as it did. I expected at the end of the year we would start excelling as a really good team.”

Scott, who will team with Matt Fuerbringer this year in a partnership of big men, says his former partner’s understanding of the game has taken him a long way.

“He’s `The Professor,’” laughed Scott, referring to Rogers’ nickname. “He’s a very cerebral guy. Everything that he does is calculated. He thinks about everything. The way he moves is so fundamentally sound. He’s always balanced. He isn’t overpowering and he isn’t going to bomb jump serves. He’s not going to make mistakes. He makes the right shots and he makes you beat him.”
Beach legend Karch Kiraly also had high praise for Rogers.

“He’s got the all-around package,” said the three-time Olympic gold medalist. “He’s an incredible defensive player. He has great ball control. He’s a good setter and he can sideout against the best blockers. Todd has really impressed me the last couple of years with how he studies the game and his opponents.”

Rogers’ wife has been front and center to see his career blossom. But Melissa Rogers stresses plenty of work has gone on behind the scenes to create the fluid way in which her husband operates on the court.

“He does make it look very easy out there,” said Melissa Rogers. “But I’ve seen how much work he puts into it. He’s breaking down other player’s tendencies. He’s breaking down his own game. He’s consistently working at it. I’ve seen all of the hard work that goes into making it quote, unquote, look easy on the court.”

Rogers also puts a lot of work into his family life. Rogers and his wife will be married 10 years this month. Besides Hannah, the couple also has a son, Nate (who just turned 6).

“My family is very important,” said Rogers. “We rented that movie ‘Click’ the other day. In the movie the guy gets to the top of his career, but he doesn’t know his kids. It was poignant. I keep my family as a priority rather than making beach volleyball a career.”

At the time of this interview Rogers was in an airport waiting to board a series of flights that would land him in Albany, N.Y., for the AVP’s first-ever indoor event, and then in Brazil for the annual Brazil-United States Challenge Series.

It also happened to be Hannah’s birthday.

“I asked her before I committed to do this event,” said Rogers. “I told her I would have to leave on her birthday. She said it was OK as long as we celebrated it when I was here. I left it up to her. She was awesome about it.”

With his recent run, Rogers has put himself on an elite pedestal in the sport. However, where he ultimately lands isn’t of prime concern to him.
“I’ve read all of the `Sands of Time’ (series of books by Art Couvillon chronicling the sport’s history) stuff,” said Rogers. “I have a great respect for guys like Bernie Holtzman who paved the way. I made Phil read the books too. We had no clue. Being able to meet guys like Ron Von Hagen and Ron Lang was really important. Where am I at? If I’m in the top 50, great. If I end up being one of the top 20 players to play the game, I’d be stoked. But it’s not why I play the game.”

The reason Rogers plays the game is rather evident.
“All it takes is one beautiful day down at East Beach to see why I do this,” said Rogers. “Once you get going on beach volleyball, it’s addictive. I play because I love the game.”