Bringing the beach to the Grand Parade
The Grand Parade, one of Cape Town’s most popular outdoor venues, has hosted concerts, cultural and sporting events.
The facility added to its versatility when it hosted the Volleyball World Pro Tour Elite 16.
A section of the 15 916 square metre space was transformed into a beach volleyball court for the prestigious international tournament held over six days.
Cape Town’s first tournament in the inaugural season of the Beach Pro Tour saw the Norwegian’s Anders Mol and Christian Sørum crowned men’s champions while the Brazil duo of Talita Antunes and Thamela Coradello won the women’s title.
“Cape Town already has a versatile annual events calendar which sees the city hosting events all year round. Adding a major international volleyball tour event to the mix is a stamp on the City’s capability and status as a renowned global events destination,” said the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith.
“The Grand Parade, as a popular outdoor venue, is a fantastic choice for this event, having played host to a variety of events over the years and now with a faux beach is an extra spike to the facility’s reputation,” Smith added.
The Beach Pro Tour is the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organised by Volleyball World and the FIVB.
Winning the Beach Pro Tour is one of the highest honours in international beach volleyball, with only the World Championships and the Olympic beach volleyball tournaments considered to be more prestigious.
Legacy Project
As part of the contract with the local promoter for the City of Cape Town to host the event, Volleyball World and the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) will be investing significantly in a legacy programme to develop the sport in South Africa, including the involvement of local communities in the event itself.
The organisation driving the legacy programme 2 Oceans Academy is using sport as the main catalyst in the development of youth, creating opportunities for young people to stay in school and then to further their education.
The legacy programme has already seen two beach volleyball tournaments for disadvantaged youth take place at Muizenberg beach recently, and on 29 October a further tournament takes place on the freshly created beach volleyball courts on the Grand Parade – an outing that for some children will be their first-ever trip into the city centre. 500 children will attend the event during the course of the week.
Two Oceans Academy works closely with the Government of the Western Cape and their CARES (Culture, Arts, Recreation, Education, Sport) shared facilities initiative.
CARES complexes are available for use of schools in the district where they are located, and can be shared between up to 24 schools in a neighbourhood. Beach Volleyball courts will be built at CARES centres to ignite the interest in the sport within the surrounding communities.
“There is a 5-year plan to create ten sports facilities in Cape Town. The sand from this tournament will be used to build a 44 x 30 metre sports court at KU CARES in Kuils River, for beach soccer, beach tennis, beach netball and beach volleyball programmes,” said 2 Oceans Academy CEO of Llewellyn Rhoda
The tournament being held in Cape Town each year will create awareness around Beach Volleyball and generate interest from local talent, encouraging participation and developing talent to a senior level.
Five school Beach Volleyball events will be held annually, with top players selected to participate in a senior category.
A Western Cape Coaches Training Programme will be run, as well as a Technical Skills Development (TSD) Programme for volunteers, who will be required to fulfil specific roles at the Cape Town tournament each year.
