Mar 05

2012 Beach Junior Tour to Hit 17 States

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 5, 2012) – The 2012 edition of the USA Beach Junior Tour will be the largest national beach volleyball tour ever, featuring 26 events in 17 states.

Starting in April with the inaugural Aloha Open in Waikiki, Hawaii, the tour for boys’ and girls’ beach volleyball teams (no co-ed teams) ages 10-18 will travel across the United States over 11 weekends, culminating with the USA Beach Junior Tour Championships to be held at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wis.

New in 2012 will be the launch of USA Volleyball’s Beach Junior Rankings, which are scheduled to debut on April 1. Junior beach players will be able to keep track of their progress against players and teams from around the country.

“The 2012 London Games are sure to bring beach volleyball to the forefront of sports this summer. We are pleased to offer the Beach Junior Tour as a way for girls and boys to get involved and play an Olympic sport,” USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal said. “We believe the Beach Junior Rankings will add tremendous interest and another great benefit to competing in the 2012 tour.”

A record 21 different USA Volleyball regions are participating in this year’s tour. New events for 2012 are the previously mentioned Aloha Open (Waikiki, Hawaii), Lone Star Open (Austin, Texas), Gulf Coast Open (new location in Pensacola, Fla.), Rocky Mountain Open in Aurora, Colo., and a new location for the East Coast Open in Hampton, N.H.

“We are glad to be able to continue to expand the number of tour events during this Olympic year and look forward to awarding championship bid invitations at each official Open tour stop. Bids are awarded to the top three placing teams in each age division. These bids are the exclusive invitation to playing in the Open Championships in Milwaukee,” said tour director Rick Schanz of the Elevation Group.

“We had a great response to the championship bids in 2011 with 115 teams accepting and playing in the open division championships. We had a total of 200 teams playing in the bid and national divisions at the 2011event, making it the largest ever USA Beach Junior Tour Championship to date. We anticipate even greater representation and tougher competition in 2012 with the growth and start of the NCAA sand game.”

The USA Beach Junior Tour focuses on competition and fun in a healthy environment. Players officiate their own matches and the events foster a friendly environment among competitors.

The tour is sponsored by longtime partner Spalding King of the Beach volleyballs, and the newest sponsor Voolii Lifestyle (www.vooliiboom.com ). USA Volleyball sanctions the tour. It is produced and operated by the Elevation Group in cooperation with USAV and the USAV regions.

Event registration will be open on March 15 and posted at usavolleyball.org.

2012 Events Schedule*

*NOTE ALL Dates & locations subject to change. Please check the USA Volleyball web site or usabeach.org for updates and more details.