Beach Volleyball officials are starting to mark North Bay as a primary location for the sport.
Last year North Bay hosted The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) event in the city and the officials are impressed.
“Volleyball Canada and NORCECA were just thrilled how the events went, fan response, the quality of the volunteers, the venue so much so that they wanted to come back this year,” said Vision Sports and Entertainment President Amedeo Bernardi.
The organization is working on the construcion of the new Vision Sands Multi-Use Facility in downtown North Bay overlooking Lake Nipissing.
“It will be very similar to the venue that we had at the Grand Slam during Summer in the Park,” said Bernardi.
“So we won’t be on the beach at the waterfront but we will be in a more controlled situation. It will the inland but the beauty of that location is that people will be overlooking Lake Nipissing so we have the best of both worlds."
Bernardi says the facility will host three events including an OVA youth tournament, an OVA Elite Grand Slam event and the NORCECA Beach Volleyball tournament.
Looking further down the road North Bay may also host Canadian Olympic Beach Volleyball qualifier tiebreaker for Rio 2016 next summer.
“If there is a need to have a playoff for Canadian athletes that are vying to get to the Rio Olympics it will be held at our location here in North Bay,” said Bernardi.
“It would be a sudden death winner take all match.”
Bernardi expects the venue to be ready for play by early June.
For more information on the event and local Beach Volleyball go to http://www.vsecanada.com
