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Ottawa beach volleyball tournament brings students together, rain or shine
Ottawa beach volleyball tournament brings students together, rain or shine

CTV News

time29-05-2025

  • General
  • CTV News

Ottawa beach volleyball tournament brings students together, rain or shine

Students take part in the Sandstorm beach volleyball tournament in Ottawa. May 29, 2025. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa) Students from Ottawa area high schools and from throughout Ontario and Quebec are taking part in a large outdoor beach volleyball tournament. 'Sandstorm' is one of the largest high school beach volleyball tournaments in North America, according to organizers. On Thursday, 340 teams, comprising of around 1,500 athletes, gathered to play at sand courts behind the Richcraft Sensplex in Gloucester. 'It sold out in about 24 hours,' says organizer Sarah McCaffrey. She says there are teams from Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, and even Montreal at the event. 'It's such a fun year-end event for coaches and students alike.' The tournament is also a fundraiser, with proceeds going to supporting underprivileged youth, providing uniforms, equipment, travel, and sport leadership bursaries. 'There's so many great things about sport. And what I noticed when I started teaching at Lester B. Pearson 20 years ago, is that not everyone has that access to sport that I did. And so, I tried to figure out what I could do about it,' says McCaffrey. The day started with substantial rain and cooler weather, eventually calming around the lunch hour. That didn't stop participants from having fun. 'Usually it's a bit sunnier, but it's just a good way to get out. There's a bunch of schools here. It's just nice to see people,' says De La Salle High School Grade 12 student Sophie Hynes. Her team dressed up in costumes. 'It's our last year playing together, so we wanted to go all out,' she says. Sandstorm beach volleyball De La Salle High School Grade 11 and 12 students dressed in costumes for the Sandstorm beach volleyball tournament in Ottawa. May 29, 2025. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa) 'I've never seen this many volleyball courts in my life before. It's pretty heart-touching, seeing this sport that I love, you know? Everybody enjoys their time, having a good time. And it makes me smile and makes me happy,' says Grade 12 Student Tyler Dolroso, who travelled with his team from Scarborough. 'I just love to hear them say like, 'that was so much fun; we love volleyball.' This is such a great time and that's all I can ask for — just them having a great time and being such good kids,' says Dolroso's coach, Melanie MacLean.

First look at new national beach volleyball centre in Birmingham
First look at new national beach volleyball centre in Birmingham

BBC News

time29-05-2025

  • General
  • BBC News

First look at new national beach volleyball centre in Birmingham

Images have been released showing the first designs for a new national training centre for beach volleyball in of four courts, the all-weather sports facility will be built on the Moor Lane site at Birmingham City University (BCU). The university has described it as a "landmark" facility that they say will "transform beach volleyball performance in the UK".Designed to support England's elite beach volleyball programme, the university says the facility will be the first of its kind in Europe, enabling year-round training regardless of weather will begin once final planning is approved, with completion due this autumn. Purpose-built for elite performance, the centre reuses sand and infrastructure from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where England's Javier and Joaquin Bello clinched England chief executive, Charlie Ford, said: "We are delighted to be in a position where work is expected to start imminently after we have worked through some site complexities that have delayed the original timescale slightly."Seeing these images, and having met with staff from BCU who are equally excited about this project as we are, it really brings home what a seminal moment this is for beach volleyball in this country."In years gone by, it's been difficult to have a joined-up approach without a facility that can bring together our most talented players to train regularly, but that will soon now be a reality ... and we can't wait." BCU's sport development officer, Phil Llewellyn, said: "BCU is delighted to have partnered with Volleyball England on this unique project. We believe it provides a genuine legacy to the city, the West Midlands and the UK."We are as excited as Volleyball England to get the centre open and start engaging the athletes using our world class sports science support based at Alexander Stadium. We also want to give local people the chance to take part in completely new sport."I'd like to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication on the project so far and we look forward to the centre opening ready for the new academic year."Backed by BCU, Sport England, Volleyball England, and the FIVB Empowerment Fund, the venue will allow UK athletes to train year-round. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.

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