Not So Pro Volleyball success at Wasaga Beach
WASAGA Beach played host to the 24th annual Not So Pro Beach Tour volleyball event at Beachbox in Stonebridge on July 17-18th.
The tournament, which had 42 teams with 275 players, was staged over two days in the town. Alongside the volleyball, it was a festival atmosphere with live music and local vendors.
Not So Pro organiser John Morrison told Georgian Sports News that the event was a great success: “It was quite exciting. We’ve been doing a beach volleyball tour is in Ontario for 24 years.
“We usually have around 950 players, but it was tough to get everything up and running in two weeks because of the short notice from the government.”
Mr. Morrison added that Wasaga Beach was a perfect location for the event and was delighted with the new Beachbox facilities.
“Beach volleyball has been happening in Wasaga before we were there. It’s a natural beach, fresh water and the Georgian Bay is fantastic.
“We always do this in July, so we always get fantastic weather and this year was no exception to that. We like the social aspect of it as well. There are great bars and restaurants to pick and choose from, and the sunset views are absolutely spectacular. There are lots of little things that make it a great tourism sports destination.
He continued: “This tournament is for fours and sixes, and everything is co-ed. We played 18 games of volleyball throughout the weekend with the finals, so it’s a pretty fast and furious tournament with lots of volleyball with a DJ and sponsors, which makes it fun.”
With COVID cancelling the event last year, the event organisers only had two weeks to make the event possible this year due to the latest restrictions in the province.
“Two weeks was a very short period of time to pull it off, but we think we did a pretty good job, and the team had a lot of fun.” Mr. Morrison said.
“We couldn’t even start building the facility until we were in step two. So once we were in that and knew what the numbers were going to be, it made it much easier to start moving forward.
“We had to level the sand, grade it, get the poles in, and move the storage containers. We also own We The Beach apparel company, which will have its own little surf shop there when we get a little more up and running. So the challenge isn’t just from the facility standpoint but getting the word out to teams in a very short window of time.
“So far, we have put in 21 beach volleyball courts, but they can also be used for multi-sports like beach soccer. We are pretty excited that the facility is built.”
Not So Pro Sports continue their summer of sport in Toronto, where they will host summer Softball Leagues and tournaments throughout August and September. They have also organized a season finale Beach Volleyball Tournament in Toronto from August 28-29th. Enter your team today by visiting, notsopro.com
To listen to the full Not So Pro interview, visit BEACH Booster radio at https://tinyurl.com/
Photo Credits: Beach Booster Media
