VALENCIA IS PREPARED

European Championship Tour

Valencia/Luxembourg, September 10, 2004. Beach Volleyball in Europe has gained a high reputation brand name for a number of years. Two world-class events on European soil this year showed just how high the esteem for the sport is among athletes, the media and the public.

For one, the highly regarded European Championship Final in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany in June 2004 and of course the Olympic Beach Volleyball tournament in August in Athens where Spain’s Bosma/Herrera won silver and Kobel/Heuscher from Switzerland won the bronze medal. Now the ambition for the last tournament of an impressive season on sand is to show that the European Beach Volleyball scene has profited from these highlights and that the importance of this booming sport will continue to rise.
The Spanish Open 2004, which takes place from 10-12 September at Playa de las Arenas in Valencia, is the perfect opportunity to provide evidence of the developments over the past year. 100’000 Euros will be played for in the men’s and women’s tournaments to close out this year’s European Championship Tour. The conditions Valencia offers are fantastic. Jose Maria Elu, Vice-President of the Spanish Volleyball Federation (RFEVB), stressed at a media conference on Wednesday that the city is ready to host an international world-class tournament and to convey a positive image of Valencia throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Valencia proved its capabilities to organise prestigious events by hosting the national Beach Volleyball tournaments for the past five years. Christian Scholbrock, Managing Director of the Zurich based marketing company Global Sports Marketing (GSM), which organises the European Championship Tour in cooperation with the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) shares the high expectations for the closing event of
the continental Beach Volleyball summer: “When we realised the possibilities and conditions Valencia offers it was an easy decision to host the event there.”
From a Spanish point of view the athletic focus at the Spanish Open will be on the Spanish Olympic heroes Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera. They will compete in Valencia, however, with other team-mates. Javier Bosma will be playing with Juan Garcia, Pablo Herrera will hit the beach with Raul Mesa, with whom he won the Junior World Championship title in 2002. The separation of the Spanish top duo has caused quite a debate in the Spanish public. Something Javier Bosma does not understand: “I have played with many different partners during the course of my career, this is not a big deal.” ”It will be quite exciting if Bosma and I meet head-on during the course of the Spanish Open”, Herrera believes. It is still unclear what will happen next season: “We will finish out the season with our current partners and then see how things develop.” Whatever the two decide to do in the near future, the Spanish Beach Volleyball scene promises to be anything but boring.

Press Release (PDF)

Background information on the European Championship Tour
The European Championship Tour is the highest ranked series of European Beach Volleyball tournaments that promotes the sport and its star players on a European level. The series of tournaments culminates into the European Championship Final as the season's highlight.
For further information please visit www.eurobeachtour.com and/or contact the Communication Managers of the European Championship Tour Klaus Wegener and Felix Meininghaus at communications@eurobeachtour.com.

Background information on the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball
The CEV is the FIVB supporting institution responsible for governing 54 National Volleyball Federations throughout Europe and is recognised as such by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) for Volleyball and Beach Volleyball. The CEV has the authority and responsibility for organising all European Competitions, especially the European Championship Tour (Men & Women).
For further information please contact the CEV Head Office in Luxembourg, Olivier Mottier at olivier.mottier@cev.luor + 352 25 46 46 25.

Background information on Global Sports Marketing Ltd. (GSM)
GSM is dedicated to the development and implementation of innovation in sports and entertainment. The company positions and markets international sports and entertainment properties on behalf of the respective rights-holders. Besides, it offers all services related to the marketing of commercial rights - media, sponsorship and licensing/merchandising rights as well as development of sports brands. GSM, based in Zurich (Switzerland) develops, promotes and markets the European Championship Tour within a long-term partnership with the European Volleyball Confederation CEV.
For further information please contact Global Sports Marketing, Christian Scholbrock at christian.scholbrock@gsmglobalsports.com or +41 43 244 9977.