USA Beach Junior Tour Kicks off in Texas

B.J. Hoeptner Evans May 05, 2011

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Photo: Copyrighted by USA Volleyball

Players shake hands at the 2010 USA Beach Junior Tour Championship in Florida.

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 5, 2011) – The 2011 USA Beach Junior Tour begins this weekend as teams hit the beach in Brownville, Texas, for the U.S. Border Open on Saturday, May 7.

Walk-up registration is still available for the event, which will be held at the Brownsville Sports Park (1000 Sports Park Boulevard). Check-in begins at 8 a.m. and play will start at 9:15 a.m.

The USA Beach Junior Tour is for boys’ and girls’ beach volleyball teams (no co-ed teams) ages 10-18 and it will travel the country over 11 weekends in 2011, culminating with the USA Beach Junior Tour Championships that will be held this year in Chicago, Ill., on July 23.

New events for 2011 are the Carolina Open (Raleigh, N.C./Carolina Region), the San Diego Open (Chula Vista, Calif./Southern California Region), the Heart of America Open (Kansas City, Kan./Heart of America Region), and the East Coast Open (Isle of Palms, Charleston, S.C./Palmetto Region).

The Tour Championship location in Chicago provides a central location for traveling teams and will be the first freshwater beach championship in the history of the tour.

The 2010 Tour had 22 events in 17 regions with 3,124 participants which represents a 40 percent increase in total participation over 2009. An average of 71 teams competed per event. The Tour began in 2006 with 12 events.

The USA Beach Junior Tour focuses on competition and fun in a healthy environment. Players officiate their own matches and the events foster a friendly environment amongst competitors.

The tour is sponsored by Spalding King of the Beach volleyballs, and sanctioned by USA Volleyball. It is produced and operated by USA Volleyball in cooperation with the Elevation Group of Companies.

Event registration is available at www.usabeach.org.

2011 Events Schedule*

DATE5 NAME LOCATION REGION
1 May 7 US Border Open Brownsville, Texas Lone Star
2 May 14 Sorrento Beach Tourney Santa Monica, Calif. Southern California
3 May 14 (rain date 15) Carolina Open Raleigh, N.C. Carolina
4 May 22 (Sunday) East Coast Open Isle of Palms, Charleston, S.C. Palmetto
5 May 28 (AM/PM) Desert Open - (evening) Phoenix (Glendale), Ariz. Arizona
6 May 28-29 San Diego Open US OTC, Chula Vista, Calif. Southern California
7 June 4 (AM/PM) Mid-South Open Dallas, Texas North Texas
8 June 4-5 Great Plains Open Omaha, Neb. Great Plains
9 June 11 Heart of America Open S. Kansas City, Kan. Heart of America
10 June 11 NoCal Open Santa Cruz, Calif. Northern California
11 June 11 Crossroads of the West Open Salt Lake City, Utah Intermountain
12 June 18 Santa Barbara Tourney Santa Barbara, Calif. Southern California
13 June 18 North Coast Open Chicago, Ill. Great Lakes
14 June 19 (Sunday) Central Open Milwaukee, Wis. Badger
14 June 26 Gulf Coast Open Clearwater,  Fla. Florida
15 July 10 Western Open Seattle, Wash. Puget Sound
16 July 10 Dockweiler King of the Court (KOC) Playa del Rey – (Non-qualifier) Southern California
17 July  14 (Thursday) SoCal Open Hermosa, Calif. Southern California
18 July 16-17 Ohio Valley Open Cincinnati, Ohio Ohio Valley
19 July 16 Hawkeye Open Des Moines, Iowa Iowa
20 July 16 Texas Open Galveston, Texas Lone Star
21 July 17 (Sunday) Great Lakes Open Rochester, N.Y. Western Empire
22 July 23 USA Beach Junior Tour Championship Chicago, Ill. Great Lakes
23 Aug. 13-14 Pacific Record Challenge Seaside, Ore. Columbia Empire

*Dates & locations subject to change. Please check the USA Volleyball web site or www.usabeach.org for updates.

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, USA Beach Junior Tour