An Open letter to any Parent, Coach, Player, or Volunteer.

My name is Denise Austin and I am the founder of the Inter-Beach.net events.

HISTORY & INSPIRATION
In 1996 I ran my first England Junior Beach Volleyball camp which ran for nine days in Croyde for about 12-16 England Junior girls. We had to write a letter to the parents in about January to organise our camp for the summer and all the girls arrived with tents, blow-up mattresses and sleeping bags. Nick my boyfriend at that time, now husband of 25 years, managed to feed them all from our camper van and avoid any major injuries except Debbie Spokes blisters between each toe which she stoically bandaged every day.

Anyway… fast forward a few decades…a few different tours and junior developments and after being inspired by USA Collegiate Beach Volleyball (NCAA) programme development over the past eight years the idea of Inter-Beach was born.

The NCAA beach format has five pairs from one college playing against five pairs from another college in "The Dual". We didn’t feel we would muster five pairs but we do feel that two pairs, with a golden set decider if there is a draw in matches of 1-1, combines the best of a squad experience and creates drama if the matches are tied and we need to settle the dual.

Having been involved in shapes and forms of junior beach volleyball development for thirty years and witnessing the growth of the National Junior Beach Programme, beach camps were run on a regular basis for England Junior and Cadet players with up to 30 players in attendance.

There was so much potential but unless they came from a predominant beach club and had more experience than we as National Team coaches could give them, it was impossible for a relatively new beach player to crack into the selection process for European and World Championships. If they were progressing they might make the last six but as coaches the depth and experience of players, to cause difficult selection choices, just wasn’t deep enough because the player experiences could not be accelerated. It was sad as a coach to not be able to give them an international experience.

CREATING AN INTERNATIONAL PATHWAY
But with whatever matrix was used the players with beach experiences were generally selected. Hence the idea and birth of the first-ever U19 Home Nations event in 2018, which allowed for 12 junior players, squads of four, and two pairs playing together as a team to come to fruition. Instead of only two players being selected each summer for a European or World Championships, now there was the potential to select 12.

Being selected and playing their first international against Scotland, NIR and Wales was part of their performance or or pre-performance pathway towards, NEZVA, Europeans and World Championships.

Moving into 2019, we added another stepping-stone into the pre-performance pathway of the U18 Inter Regional Beach Volleyball Championships. Which allowed the players to experience a selection process to be able to play for their region ahead of possibly playing for their country.

For more information please see our frequently asked questions (FAQ) page or learn about our unique format HERE.

Thank you for your support and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
Denise Austin
Founder & Organiser