05/06/2014 09:00
Beach Volleyball mesmerizes hundreds of kids on Poetto beach
2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Final
Cagliari, Italy, June 5, 2014. Some 150 young volunteers are helping the organisers of the 2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship – Final in Cagliari. On Thursday morning, their third day “on duty”, those attending the morning session came together for a short photo session where they showed all of their joy and enthusiasm for being part of the show. They are all getting mesmerized by beach volleyball and who knows, hopefully after this experience some may even decide to take up the sport.
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About 80 volunteers are from the same school in Quartu Sant’Elena, and they have been exempted from attending their respective classes up to the end of this week in order to attend the Championship. The school year will come to an end this Saturday in Italy, so they have all already started their long summer holidays in the best way by watching closely the European beach volleyball elite that is in action these days on Poetto beach. Their help is quintessential to the success of the tournament, especially since the organisers had only four weeks to set
everything up after Cagliari stepped in to replace Rome as venue of
this year’s Championship.
“We are very grateful to the school principal and to all teachers, since these volunteers were very much needed for this tournament,” one of the organisers says. “It’s an experience that they will all remember for a long time.”
Another 80 children and teenagers are from local sports clubs, and they mostly attend the afternoon sessions of the tournament. Their duties are quite heterogeneous: they make sure the scoreboards are updated, retrieve balls, provide water to the athletes, and stand by the entrance of the courts. “I play volleyball, so quite naturally I wanted to attend this tournament,” 16-year old Claudia says. “I have not followed much the women’s competition since I have always come for the afternoon session so far, but I am really looking forward to seeing the matches today. My favourite team is definitely the Italian duo, Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai. I saw them yesterday and the day before as well, they are great.”
“The team I like the most is the one from the Czech Republic,” adds 12-year old Giacomo. “Of course, I also support the Italian teams as well. I play tennis but beach volleyball is just great. I especially like it when they hit the ball very hard at the net. And the fact that you play on sand is also very cool. Maybe one day I will try it out as well. On top of this, we are not attending classes at school these days, so I hope that the European Championship will stop here next year as well,” Giacomo jokes.
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