A panoramic view of the five courts for this weekend's NORCECA beach volleyball event. PHOTO BY LEAH DAWSON.
Amber Bennett says North Bay is giving her a pretty good first impression.
The US Virgin Islands beach volleyball player was one of a handful of athletes stretching and practicing in preparation for the NORCECA Volleyball even which will dominate the five downtown beach volleyball courts starting on Friday.
“It’s really nice the tournament seems very well organized, it’s the most organized that we’ve been on in a while,” said Bennett who will be playing with her new partner Mannika Charles on the US Virgin Islands women’s team.
“The people are very nice, are accommodations at Canadore are great and we are really excited.”
US Virgin Islands beach volleyball player Amber Bennett practices at the downtown courts Thursday morning. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
A total of 18 countries will be represented at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball event, the only one of its kind in Canada.
Organizer Amadeo Bernardi says the new courts are getting a lot of attention.
“The only other training facility available in Canada is inside an airplane hangar in Toronto, if not these athletes have to travel to Florida or California if they want beach training so we followed the specs exactly, right to the centimetre,” said Bernardi.
North Bay hosted a similar tournament last year right on the waterfront but this year the courts are closer together and watching five games at a time is manageable with a giant hill located on the east side of the cluster of courts.
“I like that there are a lot of courts and there is a lot of space between the courts so you don’t have to worry about interfering with the next team’s play and there’s a gentle breeze but it’s not too windy, I really like it,” said Bennett about the court set up.
“The real great vantage point will be the hill, that’s why we put the two courts in front of the hill, we figure we can fit 400 or 500 people on the hill comfortably, it’s a nice slope and you can see all the courts in operation at once so we have more room than we had last year for spectators so we are excited,” said Bernardi.
Tickets for the event can be picked up on site or at Skater’s Edge (Fisher St.) and The Boat (Memorial Drive).
You can also purchase tickets online at www.vsecanada.com
“Being that we are downtown I hope that’s a great draw and a great thing for downtown North Bay,” said Bernardi.
Play begins at 10 am on Friday morning at the courts located off the corner of Wyld and Oak Street.
