Beach blast

Beach volleyball: Impressed at Horse Guards Parade

Horse Guards Parade was put to the test as it hosted the Olympic beach volleyball test event, featuring 24 women's teams from around the world.

LOCOG volleyball manager, Bob Clarke, sat down to reflect on the tournament ahead of the big event next year.

"One, we started the event on time, so for me, when we heard the whistle at 10 o'clock on Tuesday morning, everything went as planned. So from that aspect it went real well.

"This event has helped us get used to the protocol of an Olympic Games. The teams here have been fantastic, 24 women's teams meant we were able to actually test the entire competition format as it would be at Games time. So that experience itself gives us such a head start for when we get to the Games.

"Here we're in the most iconic venue of the Games. For me, this is the number one profile venue, this is London. So I think we're in great shape."

Safety

The tournament continued despite speculation surrounding safety due to the recent spate of riots in London. However the match schedule was altered on the first day of play in order to make certain that spectators and staff would reach their homes at a reasonable hour.

"I wasn't worried so much," declared Clarke, "LOCOG made a prudent decision that day to reschedule the matches to let everybody get home at an earlier hour which I think was the right decision to make in the end, and the rest worked out well for us.

"I think the test event has helped us towards 2012. There are a lot of little lessons learned along the way. From everything like Tuesday, which was a challenge for London, and that helps us also to learn some of the contingencies we can put in place to help mitigate any issue. It's all about fine tuning from here on out."

Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) media manager, Richard Baker, also showed great admiration of the tournament organisers and volunteers involved in the event, describing the week as 'absolutely outstanding.'

"Obviously it got off to quite an interesting start," said Baker, "but overall the week as a whole has been absolutely superb; from an organisational standpoint, but also from a media standpoint and a crowd standpoint. The UK doesn't have a strong tradition in beach volleyball, but you see the amount of interest not only in the media but from the fans, it has been amazing.

Showcase

Showcasing beach volleyball to London has been a huge success for everyone involved, however the Olympic Games will take the iconic Horse Guards Parade venue from 1500 cheering spectators to an astonishing 15000 people, placing huge pressure on the behind the scenes organisation.

"One thing that is definitely going to change is the set up of the venue," explained Baker, "as the capacity is going to increase by 10 times, so it's going to be phenomenal. Sure there are some things which we can polish, but its more internal stuff like communication. Everything that we have tested here has been superb, from the accommodation, transport, and from the competition standpoint is has really gone superbly so there's not too much to criticise."

Without the longstanding traditions that the likes of football and cricket have generated in the UK, the large task remains of leaving a legacy of beach volleyball that encourages young people to get involved.

"Legacy is about the people that take away this experience and can apply that in the future to other volleyball events," said Clarke, who will be attending his 7th Olympic Games in 2012.

"We have donated the sand for example, here for this test event to British Volleyball which has identified five locations here in London where is will go and become a permanent beach volleyball facility for training and then we'll probably do the same thing for Games time, as that sand will go to additional sites here in London so I think that that's a great legacy right there."