BY SABELO GWEBU
MBABANE– With the help of the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA), a first-of-its-kind beach volleyball court will be opened at the end of January in Lobamba.
EOCGA is currently building its headquarters in Lobamba next to the OlympAfrica Centre and part of the project is a non-beach volleyball court. Beach volleyball is usually played, as its name implies, on a sand court with two players per team and was introduced in California in 1930.
Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent’s side of the court. Each team also works in unison to prevent the opposing team from grounding the ball on their side of the court.
The biggest beneficiary of the project is the Eswatini National Volleyball Association with its president Mpendulo ‘Mshubegaca’ Dlamini revealing that their members will be called to a meeting to appoint a committee specifically for the development of what is one of the world’s fastest-growing sport.
“In Zone VI, which is the southern African countries, Eswatini was now the only country without this facility. Lesotho were the latest to have one last year and even hosted an international beach volleyball tournament last November,” he said.
He said a lot of great things are on the pipeline after the opening of the facility which includes forming teams and participation in the Olympic Games qualifiers to be fully funded by EOCGA.
“Also, the Mozambique volleyball president has promised to send one of their qualified coaches to help us develop and also play monthly invitational tournaments in Maputo,” he said.
When building a non-beach volleyball court, the depth of sand should be 12 to 24 inches. An area of 28 meters x 20 meters x 24 inches requires 12,144 cubic feet, approximately 200 to 600 tons of sand that is naturally weathered, rounded, and not acquired from a crushed rock source. According to its specifications, the playing surface must be as flat and uniform as possible and free from rocks, shells, or dangerous particles that may cause cuts or injuries to the athletes. A tarpaulin is recommended in case of rain, and the sand should be sifted prior to the event. In extremely hot climates the sand will need to be watered down between matches.
