Beach volleyball in the Netherlands
History 1990 till 2004 no beach volleyball in the federation Outside the Federation: Palm Beach Life Circuit (Free Time Promotion): - 14 weekend tournaments - more than 9000 teams City Beach Tour: - 6 events in City s Many clubs, bars organizing events in city s But: - only 3 beach volleyball clubs - a very weak top level national circuit - no national team program
History 2004 & 2005 2004: New board for Nevobo Decision to do something with beach volleyball (1 person, 24 hours a week) Work together with Free Time Promotion to organize national top level circuit at their existing platform Start beach volleyball schools Start to convince federation that beach volleyball has a lot of potential: - beach volleyball is no competition for indoor (summer winter) - beach volleyball is a solution for volleyball problems - no club owned accommodation - many girls too little boys - image of volleyball - strong competition with football - many players stop at certain ages
History 2005 2005: Development of a plan and use of opportunities 1. City of the Hague 2. National Olympic Comity Presentation to the General Assembly of Nevobo Beach volleyball is summer sport Beach volleyball doesn t compete to indoor If we have 150 indoor courts only 10.000 people can play beach volleyball in winter
Mission Statement 2006 By 2012 Netherlands want to be one of the leading beach volleyball countries in Europe Five Criteria: 1. size of the recreational circuit in the Netherlands 2. number and size of the beach volleyball clubs 3. quality of the talent development programs 4. international results of the top teams 5. quality and image of national tour and international events in the Netherlands We want to be in the top at all criteria but we want to be the best at at least one of those criteria.
The five criteria are the basics of the strategy Talent development program Beach volleyball clubs Beach volleyball courts World Tour National tour Recreational circuit International results Dutch teams
Recreational circuit Clubs and courts Beach volleyball schools very successful (convincing the clubs) 3 clubs in 2004 over 70 clubs in 2009 9 permanent courts in 2004 over 300 courts in 2009 Most important: 1250 indoor clubs in the Netherlands, 400 clubs with more than 250 players 2004: not one indoor club had beach volleyball as a priority 2009: over 80% of the 400 big clubs wants to do something with beach volleyball
Recreational circuit Palm Beach Life circuit: The biggest recreational tour in the world? - 48 tournament days - 30 to 130 courts per day - over 10.000 participating teams - platform for official competition of the federation More and more regional tours (together with Free Time) - juniors and adults
International results & talent development Conclusion 2005: - results are not good enough - teams make their own programs - no coach driven program - we know enough about beach volleyball - we lack absolute top sport knowledge So: 2004 to 2009: better results every year - we found an top indoor coach with interest for the beach (Bert Goedkoop) - we changed the program completely
International results & talent development How do we organize the programs? - coach driven (coaches paid by the federation) - centralized in The Hague - full commitment and full time - make the program better every year: - food and nutricion - mental training - physical training - indoor facility in The Hague (run by Free Time Promotion) Talent development is organized by the same people and coaches first organization with official National Training Centre status of NOC
National tour 2009 What did we do? 1. Bring the event to the people (Free Time, City s, Grass volleyball events) 2. Make a good proposition for sponsors and city s Strong assets: 1. City s are pretty good 2. National championship is a TOP-event with a lot of spectators and TV 3. Players Beach Team Holland contract assures national top teams playing in national tour
National tour 2009 What should we do better? 1. Locations within city s can sometimes be better 2. Quality of some events must be improved 3. Promotion of the tour can be better and start earlier 4. Calculate the economic value of beach volleyball or an event for a city 5. Find strong local partners in 2010
International events 2006 till 2008: European Tour - good to learn, not good enough for media attention - European under 20 championships - World Championships under 19 - develop national championships into a bigger event Build up experience for bigger events 2009 Swatch FIVB World Tour: - more media attention - more impact on beach volleyball in the Netherlands
Conclusion 2009 We made some big steps In some criteria we are amongst top of Europe: 1. Recreational Circuit 2. Talent development In some criteria we develop well 3. Number of beach volleyball clubs 4. International results of our top teams There s one big challenge left (most difficult in the Netherlands) 5. Quality and image of our national tour and international events