Alexander Walkenhorst (right) organized the Beach League in Düsseldorf. For this he gets praise from all sides. And with his partner Sven Winter, he leads the table of the eight teams after seven games.
Foto: imago images/Peter Weber
It was a month ago that the NDR satirical broadcast “Extra 3” made fun of the beach volleyball’s corona transition rules of the German Volleyball Association (DVV). In the section »Real Insanity«, the absurd suggestions – such as a ban on block play on the net or a restricted area in the middle of the field to avoid contact between the two players of a team – were drawn through the cocoa with a wink.
In order to make the embarrassment for the DVV even greater, eight German women and men duos have been playing an independent beach league in Düsseldorf since mid-June. With a strict hygiene concept, without spectators – but the usual rules. It is not organized by the association, but by a trio around the Essen-based professional Alexander Walkenhorst, who also had fun before: “The whole world is laughing at the rules of the DVV.” The athlete initiative, on the other hand, is undoubtedly a success: more than a million Various users watched the first games of the Beach League on the Twitch streaming platform.
During the DVV telephone press conference on Monday, which was mainly about the tournament series “Road to Timmendorf”, the Beach League was only mentioned after 34 minutes and only when asked. “The young savages were faster. That is perfectly okay, «said Volker Braun. The provisional managing director of the DVV marketing agency also spoke of “partnership-based cooperation, no competition”. And so the association’s own series begins on July 17th in Düsseldorf. Exactly where the Beach League finals are expected to rise on July 12th.
According to Braun, the busy amateur tournament organizers “opened the door” for the DVV. One could also speak of a motivation kick. And at least one can say that the sleepy association used this opportunity. From July 17th, on weekends from Friday to Sunday, four tournaments will take place in Düsseldorf and two in Hamburg for the top eight in the German beach ranking and additional qualifying games for another eight teams. In addition, from September 3 to 6, the German championship in beach volleyball in Timmendorfer Strand will take place with spectators. That would be a premiere in German sports in corona times – and a real sensation.
In the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, a regulation currently applies that allows an exceptional permit to be issued for outdoor events with up to 1000 participants. And the first signals from the Ostholstein Ministry of Health to the DVV concept are quite positive. According to Braun, the association’s plans stipulate that “up to 600 spectators” can be accommodated in the stands. This is of course no comparison to the more than 6,000 who wanted to watch the championship finals in previous years. But these 600 are at least a glimmer of hope. The rush for personalized tickets should not be huge just for that reason. After all, the title fights could be the first sports event in Germany at which fans can again be there live. There should not be any corona tests for viewers or journalists. But of course for all athletes, referees and other people directly involved in the tournament.
Those who are not allowed to be there live can watch the most important games of the title fights and the preparation tournaments on free-to-air television on Sport1. The sports broadcaster plans to report live for more than 21 hours in the coming weeks, which is another remarkable success of the DVV. The prize money for the championship should be based on that of previous years – in 2019 the winners received 10,000 euros. All national teams, including Olympic champion Laura Ludwig with her partner Margareta Kozuch, and vice world champions Julius Thole and Clemens Wickler should start at the new association tournament series.
»No international tournament has been confirmed so far this year. That is why only the three tournaments and the German championship are on our calendar. We are very grateful. And the Timmendorfer tournament will be the absolute highlight for us, «said Thole at the press conference on Monday. A month ago, exactly that world-class athlete was in the NDR satire video about the corona beach rules with the words »12 new rules. Pure Chaos’ occurred.
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