Beach volleyball women gear up for Olympics qualifiers

Beach Volleyball has been a spectator magnet at the Olympic Summer Games ever since its debut at the largest sporting event in 1996. On average, more than 10 000 people flocked to the arenas ever since.

Now, for the first time in its 26-year old history, Namibian aces are just one step away from representing their country on the famous Copacabana beach strip in Rio de Janeiro. A place renowned for tons of beach volleyball and beach football action throughout the year. An exciting prospect.

The last obstacle to overcome are the final stages of the African Qualifiers scheduled for 13 to 18 April in Nigeria with the exact venue still to be confirmed.

Rubbing shoulders with hosts Nigeria as well as the other African powerhouses such as Egypt and Rwanda, the Namibian teams, comprising of Julia Laggner and Kim Seebach as well as Rosi Hennes and Stephanie Palmhert, will have to win the event in order to secure their ticket for Brazil.

But the dream of qualifying comes at a price. “We are urgently looking for private sponsors to help finance our plans”, said national coach James Verrinder.

The lack of finances have cast dark clouds over Namibia’s participation as flights, accommodation and funds for preparation need to be acquired as soon as possible in order to compete.

Despite this, the two teams have been hard at work since last year. After pushing through the second qualification round in Egypt, both pairs trained up to five times a week on court while specialised conditioning training at FX Fitness and nutrition plans by Dorle Verrinder gave them even more of a cutting edge.

“We worked mainly on improving our partnerships. A big focus was also placed on attacking the ball and on serving and receiving,” Verrinder explained. “There have been dramatic improvements since then,” the British national continued.

In an ideal scenario, Laggner, who currently resides in Germany for the upcoming Smart Beach Tour, will meet her partner Seebach in Berlin on 19 or 20 March for final preparations.

Hennes, Palmhert and coach Verrinder are planning to join their fellow team mates in Berlin shortly before departing to Nigeria for several indoor sessions in Germany’s capital city. As it stands, an hour in the state-of-the-art facilities cost up to 40 Euro a piece.

12 African nations have been invited to the continental showdown. The format of play is still to be decided but it is most likely that two groups of six teams each will be formed.

In the group stage, the two teams of each country face off against each other in four games. Therefor one nation needs three wins for an outright win. In case of a stalemate, a golden set decides the winner.

Interested sponsors are urged to get in contact with James Verrinder as soon as possible at j.verrinder@gmail.com or 081 4554571.

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