Mount Maunganui to host pro beach volleyball event

Asian Volleyball Women’s Champions Alice Zeimann and Shaunna Polley in action in Mount Maunganui.

Mount Maunganui will host a Beach Pro Tour Futures beach volleyball event, it has been announced.

The event, from March 16 to 19 will be the first Beach Pro Tour stop ever held in New Zealand, Volleyball New Zealand announced in a statement today.

Volleyball New Zealand chief executive Toni-Maree Carnie said the event was an important step for the sport in New Zealand.

“Hosting the event will be hugely beneficial for the development of our best athletes and they will have strong preparation with the Futures event coming immediately after the finish of the 2023 New Zealand beach tour.”

The Futures event will feature 16 teams in both men’s and women’s competitions.

Volleyball New Zealand High Performance Coach Jason Lochhead said the Futures event was an important moment in the development of beach volleyball in New Zealand.

“Hosting this event provides the chance for our elite and aspiring athletes to play and watch international teams, something that will be hugely beneficial for them as individuals but also the development of the wider game.”

Tauranga City Council venues and events manager, Nelita Byrne, said beach volleyball was “part of our region’s DNA.

“Having an event of this status will be an amazing opportunity for our community to experience and be inspired by these international athletes.”

The Beach Pro Tour structure includes three tiers of competition: Elite 16, Challenge and Futures.

The Futures level of the tour feeds towards the Challenge level events with New Zealand Beach Ferns and Beach Blacks athletes competing in several Futures events in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham earlier this year.

Beach Ferns Alice Zeimann and Shaunna Polley have recently competed in the Elite 16 event in Australia while Beach Black Brad Fuller won a Futures event in Italy in July with then-playing partner Sam O’Dea.