2018-02-09 10:19:00 CEST
Beach Shorts: The week in the sands of the world
Two-time Olympian Ana Gallay of Argentina is one of the stars of the South American Tour in Rosario
It’s Friday! Do you know what it means? It’s Beach Shorts Day! Our weekly column is back, bringing to you everything that happened in the sands of the word – and also outside of them – over the last few days. We have tournaments going on around the globe, a big announcement for the players, some funny social media stuff and a summary of the most important news of the week.
Put your Beach Shorts on and join us!
South American Tour in Argentina
The World Tour is off this week but beach volleyball players in a certain region of the globe will be busy as the South American Tour runs its second tournament of 2018 in Rosario, Argentina, from Friday to Sunday.
Hosts Argentina will field a strong team with the men’s pair of Julia Azaad/Nico Capogrosso and women’s tandems of Ana Gallay/Fernanda Pereyra and Virginia Zonta/Cecilia Peralta. Challenging the hosts will be Brazil’s Álvaro Filho/Saymon Barbosa and Chile’s Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt among the men and Brazil’s Tainá Bigi/Victoria Lopes in the women’s side.
Argentina's Nico Capogrosso (left) and Julian Azaad won the first stop of the South American Tour in Brazil (Photocredit: FIVB)
Snow volleyball Night in the Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games started this Friday in PyeongChang, South Korea, and, no, beach volleyball won’t be there, but its freezing cousin snow volleyball will!
The sport is not part of the Games yet, but it will have an opportunity to pitch for inclusion in the Snow Volleyball Night on February 18.
The event, organized by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV), will showcase the sport and feature several volleyball stars including some beach names, such as Brazilian legend Emanuel Rego and Chinese Olympic medalist Chen Xue.
Snow Volleyball will be presented to the Olympic world in PyeongChang (Photocredit: FIVB)
Athletes launch the Players’ Association
Athletes from all over the world announced the launching of the International Beach Volleyball Players’ Association (IBVPA), a union created for current professional players who compete in the World Tour with the mission of internationally develop, advance and promote the profession of beach volleyball.
The Board is composed by notable players, such as USA’s Phil Dalhausser (honorary president), the Netherlands’ Madelein Meppelink (president), Switzerland’s Anouk Vergé-Depré (vice-president), Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes (communications director), the Netherlands’ Robert Meeuwsen (finance director) and Brazil’s Barbara Seixas (strategy & development director).
The move was welcome by Beach Majors Company CEO Hannes Jagerhofer.
He said in a statement: “We understand and share the athletes’ desire to spread the global appeal of beach volleyball.
“We share the same goals: we are striving to take the sport to the highest level. Together with Red Bull, we have worked tirelessly over the past three years to raise the profile of not just the sport but the stars of it, too.
“Our tournaments offer athletes the chance to compete for the highest prize money – as well as the most amount of ranking points which count towards qualification for the Olympic Games.
“Our team take pride in working closely with the athletes to ensure they receive the best attention from the minute they walk through the door at one our tournaments to the time they leave.
“We will support the players’ association because we understand the various struggles the athletes face throughout the year.
“Furthermore, we have already reached out to the association and are discussing ideas of how to work together to help raise the profile of the sport.
“Every aspect of what we do – including offering players top-class facilities and high-end VIP hospitality to work and relax in – is done for the good of beach volleyball and we believe this is something you cannot find anywhere else in the world in the sport.”
Welcome to the official instagram account of the IBVPA! Find out how you can get a member and have a voice in the association on our wesite ibvpa.com !
54 Likes, 6 Comments - IBVPA (@ibvpa) on Instagram: "Welcome to the official instagram account of the IBVPA! Find out how you can get a member and have..."
Social Media: Casey Patterson is happy
The coolest social media post of the week goes for…Mr. Casey Patterson. How could we even do any different after the Patterson’s family dance in front of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch right after Casey knew he had been awarded a wild card for the #FTL Major?
When you're visiting NEVERLAND RANCH and find out you got the @beachmajorseries wild card for Ft Lauderdale. 🕺🏼🔥 #dance #ftlauderdale #beachmajorseries #beachvolleyball
1,378 Likes, 42 Comments - Casey Patterson (@caseypatt) on Instagram: "When you're visiting NEVERLAND RANCH and find out you got the @beachmajorseries wild card for Ft..."
In case you missed it
Here are the most important beach volleyball news of the week:
Check out the women’s entry list for the Fort Lauderdale Major…
…and find out who are the male teams who will be competing as well
Why is Fort Lauderdale so special for Álvaro Filho?
Kolocova and Kvapilova are already in Florida
Know what Chase Budinger plans in beach volleyball are
Until next week!