Lausanne, Switzerland, October 8, 2015 - The FIVB Beach Volleyball Department Director Angelo Squeo presented the many achievements of the season to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Council on Thursday.
Top of the bill was the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships The Netherlands 2015, which was described by FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° as the “best ever”.
“All World Championships are special, but the Netherlands staged the most unique. The four city concept was exceptional,” President Graça said. “All the cities got behind it with unbridled enthusiasm and the players also benefited immensely with each city having their own centre court.”
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Council received a report from the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships The Netherlands 2015 organisers and host federation NEVOBO.
The inaugural Major Series was also marked as a tremendous success in its debut season with events in Croatia, Norway and Switzerland before the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals in Fort Lauderdale, USA.
Mr Squeo reflected on an impressive 2015 season which included
•1 World Championships
•5 Grand Slams and 3 Major Series
•1 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals
•5 Opens double gender
•1 Open (W)
“We are very proud to say that all the events that were scheduled for the 2015 season were completed,” Mr Squeo said. “This bodes well for the 2015/2016 season.”
The new season has started this week with the Puerto Vallarta Open in Mexico before the Antalya Open takes place from October 20-25 while a men’s only Doha Open will be held from November 9-13. The rest of the 2015/2016 calendar, which is expected to number 23 events totaling $10m in prize money is likely to be confirmed by the end of October.
Other highlights of the year included the smooth running of the Olympic Games qualification process with the Continental Cup having started in 2013 and the Olympic ranking having started at the beginning of the year. The high level performance of teams thanks to the Continental Cup and an overall increase in spectator attendance were other significant goals achieved in 2015.
And in a year of major innovation achievements, beach volleyball also advanced in many technology areas including the testing of a new challenge system at the Rio Open and the World Tour Finals, the transition towards e-scoresheet and live scoring on all courts for the majority of events.
The goals set for the 2017-2020 cycle include reforming the FIVB events structure, further growing beach volleyball worldwide and establishing a calendar next year for the next four years.