Beach Volleyball Tour Kicks Off

24 June 2011, 15:22 | Updated: 24 June 2011, 15:24

This weekend, Volleyball England is starting its nationwide Beach Tour in Norfolk as part of the Great Yarmouth Classic.

Over 50 beach volleyball players, including several of our Olympic hopefuls, will be descending on the seaside town to show off their skills with the hopes of winning at the final Beach Tour event in Bournemouth at the end of August.

The occasion could be something of a warm-up to the upcoming Olympics; Councillor Mark Thompson, environment portfolio holder, says that Great Yarmouth "is featured in the pre-games training manual for the 2012 Olympics", whilst American player and coach Angela Knopf is making a special trip to compete, saying it would be "good to check out the facilities should any of the Olympic Beach Volleyball teams choose to use Great Yarmouth as their pre-games training base".

Lisa Wainwright, Chief Executive of Volleyball England, urges the public to "come along for a great day out", and hopes that the event will raise the profile of the popular sport and bring with it a "message for fitness, skills, tactics and a social buzz" as well as encouraging wider participation in the sport. The event is free and has been very well attended in the past.

There is an under-19's event, too, which will take place on Friday 24th June. If you're under 19 and want to get involved and play volleyball, contact Tomas Morawski: t.morawski@uea.ac.uk