For three years I had the pleasure of living in Bermuda, a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. My summer evenings were filled with playing beach volleyball down at the world-famous Horseshoe Bay Beach. The beach would be lined with nets and teams from one end to the other, bluetooth’s were pumping and the energy was just… electric. After the games we’d pack up the nets and head over to the local pub for a few bevvies before calling it a night.
Coming back to our wintery land locked city, what I would give to play beach volleyball again! The warm summer air, the laughter of teams digging and bumping, and just the overall atmosphere. Unfortunately, you can’t just pick-up an island and transport it to the middle of the land locked prairies, but the ESSC did the next best thing. It went out in search of creating a little island paradise right here in Edmonton for our players. It teamed up with the Woodcroft Community League, and the Lendrum Community League, and actually BUILT 8 new beach volleyball courts, and refurbished another 3, making 11 courts right here in the heart of our city.
For me, other than missing the ocean and the Bermuda Rum Swizzle, there isn’t much difference between the Edmonton beach courts and the Bermuda beach, and better yet, this year the Club has worked extra hard to make improvements across the board to make this the best beach volleyball year yet!
So, what have we done? Well first let me ask you, what are your biggest pet peeves about beach volleyball?
For me:
- I can’t stand hard sand… playing on the beach after a high tide, or a rain storm was the worst, we would have been better off just playing on the rocks.
- I dislike having to put the nets up and lay the lines, inevitably someone was always standing crooked and we ended up playing on a parallelogram.
- As much as I love the feeling of sand, I can’t stand having it stuck to my feet at the end of the night, it gets in my socks, and in my car… literally EVERYWHERE, and;
- I loathe being too close to the neighbouring courts, one team always set-up their net too far from the water and the other court was literally on top of the first court, 12 on 12 volleyball anyone?
Luckily at the ESSC we now have:
- The best sand in town - the sand at our courts is known as ‘playground sound’ and boasts the ability to remain clump free, does not require a weekly visit from the rototiller, is soft like a baby’s bum, and best of all… makes you feel like you can hear the waves crashing along the beach.
- A full time Beach Volleyball coordinator on site every night! Not only do they make sure the nets and lines are set-up and good to go throughout the night, they work tirelessly to ensure you are having the best experience you can.
- Not just a hose with dribbles of water, also known as a ‘foot shower’, we now have what I call a ‘foot spa’, with high pressure water to help take care of that pesky sand on your five little piggies before you head home for the evening. And last but not least;
- Fencing! Cause jumping over the boards to chase after that rogue ball that Kevin bumped, is never any fun. Geez Kevin!
I’ve gathered my team, and we can’t wait to play in our little slice of paradise this Spring. I can’t wait to see you there too!
