Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Shell to hold beach volley
MOST of the time, the beach volleyball season would have fizzled right after the Nestea Beach Volleyball Competition, which serves as the climax of all beach volleyball competitions in the country.
Not this year though as a lofty, big-budget beach volleyball competition, the Shell Open, will take center stage next month in a still to be determined venue.
This is music to the ears for Cebu’s beach volleyball teams, who have continued to flourish in the national beach volleyball scene. Just last week, Cebu dominated the regional finals of the Nestea Beach Volleyball Competition winning four of the six slots for the national finals.
The competition will be for the men and women teams on a per invitation basis and those who will be invited will be the top achievers in the sport.
Though the roster of teams are not yet finalized, expected to get a sure slot is Nestea champion and MLSDF champion University of the Visayas duo Jusabelle Brillo and Janez Armie Igot, who are considered Cebu’s best beach volleyball twosome.
12 teams
Participants will be limited to just 12 teams per category that will be competing against each other for the P20,000 top plum—the biggest pot for a local beach volleyball competition ever in Cebu.
The runnerup will be receiving P15,000 and P10,000, respectively. To make the competition more intense, the participating teams will not be exclusive to Cebu as teams from neighboring provinces will also be invited.
Neighboring provinces like Iloilo and Dumaguete also have top-rated beach volleyball teams as well as faraway Tagum, which boasts of a sand court stadium—a sports stadium with the sand court as its main attraction. Its bleachers are not retractable but permanent structures.
Also, Tawi-tawi has impressive beach volleyball teams. Last year, Mindanao State University’s players made waves in the national finals of the 2007 Nestea beach volley as it upended Far Eastern University for the crown. (MCB)
