THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS, JULY 21—All hoping to become part of the next generation of international beach volleyball stars, 42 men’s and 38 women’s teams representing 30 countries are heading to Europe for next week’s 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Championships, presented by RICOH for players under the age of 19. After hosting local, national and European Beach Volleyball tournaments for several years, the Netherlands will stage its first international event from next Wednesday through Sunday as The Hague will be the site of the double gender competition. Being held for the seventh time in history, this year’s event will be held at the popular Hommerson Beachsport Stadion in the seaside resort of Scheveningen. "These events have been critical to create a new generation of Beach Volleyball athletes," said Angelo Squeo, the FIVB Beach Volleyball Events Director. "In a few years, these players will challenge for SWATCH FIVB World Tour medals and vie for berths in future Olympic Games. The winners of these events will also be rewarded by the FIVB and the respective organizers with wild cards and free transportation to take part in the main draw of a SWATCH FIVB World Tour event in 2008 or 2009. This event will also showcase the developing and very competitive Beach Volleyball program with a strong interest for this discipline at any level that the Dutch are building.” The 24-team tournaments, with 20 teams pre-seeded into the main draw and qualifying for the other four spots, the Netherlands, as the host country for the event, has three teams in the main draw for each gender. The 16 other main draw slots have been filled by one team for 16 different countries. The three Dutch women’s team who will be trying to keep the gold medal placing won last year by countrywomen Danielle Remmers/Michelle Stiekema are Sophie van Gestel/Rimke Braakman, Quirine Oosterveld/Nicole van der Mark and Juliette Mol/Lotte Swart. The three Dutch men’s teams in the main draw are Christiaan Varenhorst/Johan van der Poel, Jan Joost van der Boggert/Jeroen Vismans and Mart van Werkhoven/Lukas Snoek One-day, single-elimination Qualification tournaments for both genders will be held for the final four spots in the main draw tournament next Wednesday. Pool Play will be held next Thursday and Friday for the 24 main draw teams followed by the single elimination final phase of the event. The gold medal and bronze medal matches for both genders will be held on Saturday, Aug. 3. Germany was denied a women's podium placement for the first time in 2007 as the Netherland's Danielle Remmers and Michelle Stiekema claimed the 2007 title. The Dutch team of Sanne Keizer and Arjanne Stevens won the first-ever women's gold medal when the competition was for players under the age of 18. The age for the competition was changed in 2005 for players under the age of 19. The Dutch also won the women’s silver medal in 2006 (Marleen Van Iersel/Danielle Remmers).
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