International Beach Volleyball Festival proves a massive hit in Bridlington
Thu 23rd August 2018
Bridlington provided the perfect destination to be the UK’s sole host for the 2018 CEV (Confederation of European Volleyball) Beach Volleyball Festival, which ran alongside the UK Pro Beach Volleyball Tour (UKBT) at South Cliff Beach on 11 and 12 August.
The CEV festival attracted over 1000 participants and spectators and featured a range of fun activities for the whole family including a giant inflatable volleyball court, Bungee run, The Slackline School, Beach Volleyball taster sessions, a junior beach volleyball competition and the Volleyball England speed cage.
Adam Toes, sport and active communities officer, said: “We would like to thank the CEV and Volleyball England for giving us the opportunity to bring this festival to Bridlington and showcase our commitment to developing beach volleyball and enabling participants and spectators to view our magnificent coastline. A special thank you must go to our Active Coast partner Skyball who have been invaluable in supporting us develop Beach Volleyball and put the festival on.”
Councillor Richard Burton, portfolio holder for leisure, tourism and culture, added: “We now hope to build on this hugely successful event and will aim to focus on developing youth participation and building our Beach Volleyball Club (Skyball)”
The weekend’s 5 star UK Pro Beach Tour also proved a massive hit, showcasing the elite players with music, grandstand seating and top class action.
With 16 men’s and women’s pairs entering the competition, Ex Commonwealth Games and Olympian Lynne Beattie & her partner Mel Coutts (Scotland) took the women’s title after a fantastic final against Aga Adamek & Kasia Drizdzeil 2-1.
In the men’s completion, experienced pairing of Jake Sheaf, who recently took a fantastic fourth place at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia and his partner Phil Smith outshone youngsters Javier Bello and Issa Batrane 2-0.
The tour now moves to Boscombe Beach in Bournemouth for the fourth and final event of the UBKT with a number of pairs hoping to be crowned 2018 champions – for more information on the tour results please seewww.ukbeachtour.com/pro-tour
For more information on the Active Coast Summer Programme including beach volleyball taster sessions on a Wednesday 1-3pm , visit www.ActiveCoast.org or follow on social media, Facebook - @Active Coast Yorkshire, Instagram - @Activecoast & Twitter - @ Active_Coast
For more information on getting involved in Beach Volleyball please log onto Skyball Beach Volleyball Club atwww.skyballclub.co.uk
