Amadeo Bernardi, true to to his Vision Sports & Entertainment (VSE) handle, saw a future for beach volleyball in North Bay. The NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean) Volleyball Confederation held its third championships in three years in North Bay over the Canada Day long weekend. This year's and last year's events have been showcased at the CANOR Molson Sand Centre
The event faced some logistical challenges going in. Entries of teams were going to be down due to 2016 being an Olympic year. The elite teams in both the men's and women's draws are competing farther south, as they make their respective treks to Rio.
Throw in some inclement weather, it being a long weekend immediately following the conclusion of the school year, and those pesky shadflies, and the organizers and volunteers did well to host a successful tournament.
That's not to say that the calibre of competition was not strong, as the playoff rounds provided some scintillating play, but perhaps the depth of the field was affected. Last year's NORCECA event saw thirty two-person teams, while this edition featured eighteen. The 2015 event was held in August.
Pool play Friday and Saturday culminated in an all-Canadian semifinal, and an all-American semifinal in both men's and women's play, guaranteeing Canada-USA showdowns in Sunday afternoon's bronze and gold medal matches.
The Americans claimed both titles, with women's circuit point-leaders Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes besting Canadians Brandie Wilderson and Julie Gordon (21-16, 21-13) in a spirited match. Claes and Hughes also represent USC in beach volleyball, and were the inaugural PAC 12 champions this past season.
After the match, Claes expressed how fond she had grown of North Bay in their visits the past two seasons. The Californian cited the small-town friendliness of North Bay, along with the excellent organization of the tournament as reasons she would be back.
On the men's side, a hard-fought, gruelling three set match saw the Canadian duo of Christian Redmann and Felipe Humana-Paredes downed by Americans Marty Lorenz and Adam Roberts (21-17, 15-21, 15-9).
Lorenz, a Washington state native, said that North Bay's natural beauty reminded him of his northwest home. "Clean air and water. How can you beat that? This isn't Los Angeles."
Bernardi was pleased with how smoothly the event ran, alluding to the fact, that in it's third year, the event had become "a well-oiled machine."
"Many of the teams that came through (North Bay) in the previous two years are on the way to Rio, which is really cool. The teams we are seeing here this year are building points for the next go-round," explained Bernardi.
"The venue, we've really grown this year. This year we have seven different events. Our summer league has really grown, too. As far as NORCECA, the board will come together, and we'll see what next year brings," said Bernardi.
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North Bay is the only stop in North America this year, as two regular American venues were pulled as they were too close to the Olympics.
In praising his army of volunteers, Bernardi relayed that the last NORCECA event in Mexico had only five volunteers, whereas the North Bay tournament saw in excess of eighty take part.
"Friday with the rain, does impact the rest of the weekend. We'll keep trying different things, and see what works, but this venue isn't going anywhere," said Bernardi confidently.
Like Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsella, Bernardi has engineered his own field of dreams. He built it, and they have come, and will continue to do so.
