The 2009 SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour

Sports on October 5, 2009 5:12 pm

Although seventeen years has passed, the Olympic spirit remains in Barcelona’s DNA as the city is continually defining itself as one of the sporting capitals of the world. For the second year running, the SWATCH FIVB Beach volley World Tour 2009 has come to Barcelona and had an even greater success than last year. The 8^th through till the 13^th of September saw 6 days of intense volleyball of the highest calibre with competitors coming to play from all over the globe, including last year’s defending champions and this year’s World Champions.

And once again, the city of Barcelona put on an incredible tournament but this time at Montjuic directly in front of the Plaza Espanya. Those of you who had the pleasure of seeing this amazing spectacle may be wondering how or why this tournament was set up here and not along the famous beaches of Barcelona. Well, after seeing the emotion, skill and heartache of the players and overall excitement of the tournament myself; I conducted an interview with the President of the “Asociación Icaria Voley Playa Barcelona”, David Sharus to get a behind the scenes scoop. Here is a brief summary of the interview:

Is There A Big Volleyball Culture In Barcelona?

Although beach volleyball is a relatively new sport in Catalonia, a big volleyball culture has already been established. The sport and volleyball culture has grown rapidly with locals, tourists and professionals alike playing every night of the week during the summer months. As a direct result, there is an initiative to double the amount of volleyball courts in Barcelona within the next 2 years.

Why Montujic And Not Along The Beaches?

A professional event of this scope with the world’s best has to be held in front of a symbolic monument within the city that hosts the tournament. As there are no real significant monuments along the beach, and the city centre is very crowded with many things under construction, Plaza Espanya was the ideal place to hold such an event.

How Long Does It Take To Organise An Event Of This Magnitude?

Planning the event can take up to a year but to assemble the whole event took a total of two weeks and one week to disassemble. Also, as specific sand is required for professional athletes, 1500 tonnes of refined sand was carried from Segovia (centre of Spain, just north of Madrid) to fill a total of 4 playing courts and 1 training court.

What Does An Event Like This Bring To Barcelona?

Barcelona is striving to become one of the world leaders in hosting sporting events. As such, the beach volley world tour helps to shape the cities sporting profile as well as significantly influencing its economical and tourism sectors. Furthermore, it raises greater awareness of healthy living and an active lifestyle which are already important considerations to the Barcelona government exemplified through initiatives such as the “bicing system”.

So after several days of volleyball at the highest level, the people of Barcelona not only witnessed a great sporting spectacle but also the best players in the world compete for valuable career points. Be sure to see next year’s tournament which is planned to be even bigger than this year. Click Here for more information on results, players and prize money in the 2009 SWATCH FIVB Beach volley World Tour.

Many thanks have to go to Mr. Sharus for taking his time to participate in the interview.

Anil

To see more photos of the tournament, Click Here

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