Brazilians spice up PSC international indoor beach volley

MANILA, Philippines - For a change, an indoor beach volleyball tournament organized by the Philippine Sports Commission will be staged Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 at Philsports in Pasig City.

“It’s a novelty,” said PSC chairman Richie Garcia of the event dubbed “Spike for Peace” International Women’s Beach Volleyball tournament.

Among the foreign teams that have confirmed their participation are Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Canada, the United States and Brazil.

The PSC is still waiting for confirmation from the teams from China, Indonesia and Thailand.

“We are looking at 12 foreign teams and one or two teams to represent the Philippines,” said Garcia during yesterday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s Malate.

It should be the first time a beach volleyball event will be staged in an air-conditioned venue.

“We will maintain the thickness of the sand. The texture of the sand will be the same,” added the PSC chief of the forthcoming event.

Joining Garcia in the forum is Eric LeCain, the PSC consultant on beach volleyball. The event is sanctioned by the Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc. under Jose Romasanta.

Tickets are priced P500 for ringside, P300 for upper box and P100 for general admission, very reasonable, according to Garcia, for beach volley fans.

The Brazilians are fielding their big, beautiful players as well as the Australians and the Americans, enough to draw the fans.

In 2000, a Brazilian indoor volleyball player named Leila Barros stole the hearts of Filipinos, and with her beauty and charm became the toast of the town.

Yet, Garcia said it’s all about the beauty of the sport.  

“We expect top level competition. Everybody’s excited. And if successful, we will do it again,” said Garcia.

LeCain said format is pool play for the first two days leading to the quarterfinals where the top four teams will play the bottom four, all the way to the semis and finals.

“These are World Tour teams. Competition should be very, very high,” he said.

There’s prize money involved – $8,000 to the winning pair and $5,000 to the runner-up, and a minimum of $1,000 for those at the bottom.

Garcia said the PSC will shoulder the airfare and board and lodging for the players, a “very cheap investment” compared to other sports.

“If we have 12 teams that only 24 heads, unlike basketball or football. It’s just for a single team,” he said.