Beach Volleyball

British Volleyball have appointed two new coaches in its goal to qualify in beach volleyball for the Olympics at Beijing in 2008 and London 2012. At Athens, we were asked several times if we had been to the Beach Volleyball. Although we had enjoyed the Volleyball preliminaries that we saw, we couldn't understand what the fuss was about. Since that time I have twice encountered this fast moving, dynamic sport. It is an event that has been added to our Olympic Experience list as one that we would like to see in Beijing.

Form

Britain's best women, Lucy Boulton and Denise Johns, are ranked 79 in the World. The pair made their first appearance on the FIVB World Tour at Porto Santo, Portugal in September 2006. The pair have recently returned from competing in the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour where they were beaten finalists at Port Macquarie.

Olympic Qualification

The Olympic Beach Volleyball tournament is a 24 team event.

All FIVB World Championships, World Tour and Recognised Continental Championships Final events between 1 January 2007 and 20 July 2008 will count to Olympic Rankings, but only two teams per country may complete.

The Olympic tournament must include at leat one team from each continent
and the host nation (China).

What to Watch

The women's pair may qualify for Beijing, but are very unlikely to be in medal contention. The target for them is probably London 2012. We want to see some of the sport as part of our Olympic Experience, so will be trying to get some tickets for preliminary round games.