The NOKIA National Beach Volleyball Championships begin this Thursday at
Wasaga Beach, Ontario. The Canadian Championships feature the top beach
teams from across the country competing in Juvenile, Junior, AA and
Pro/AAA divisions. The Pro/AAA division starts Saturday and concludes
Sunday afternoon. For complete competition results throughout the weekend,
visit the Volleyball Canada website at www.volleyball.ca
Canada's top AAA teams have been competing internationally on the FIVB
World Beach Tour. The NOKIA Nationals will be the first time they have
played at home since the NOKIA Toronto Open in June; Canada's stop on the
FIVB World Tour of Olympic Qualifying events. The event will feature the
teams of John Child/Mark Heese and Jody Holden/Conrad Leinemann, who have
qualified for Sydney and are ranked 6th and 18th respectively going into
the Olympic Games. Top women's teams who will be competing for the AAA
title include, Kathy Tough/Janette Solecki who finished the Olympic
qualification ranked 30th in the World, followed by Barb Broen-Ouellette
and Christine Lussier who finished 31st, both teams out of Olympic
qualification. Not participating in Wasaga is Kristine Drakich, who
sustained an injury at the Nokia Toronto Open in June. Drakich is still
recovering from the injury, however her partner Erminia Russo will be
competing in Wasaga Beach with Sarah Maxwell.
The Senior AA Championship will feature the top Provincial AA winners from
across Canada. In its eighth year, an impressive total of nine Provinces
will be represented in this year's event.
2000 will be the fourth edition of the Junior National Championship
category, which will see a total of ten provinces participating. The
growth of this category is evidenced in Canada's first foray into
International junior level competition. The 1999 Junior Women champions,
Annie Martin & Line Jomphe (from Quebec) participated this summer in an
International Invitational tournament in Korea, winning gold and defeating
teams from Australia and Korea to take home $3000 US. Jomphe will be
competing for the first time this year at the AAA Nationals, while Martin
will play one more year in the junior category.
A special addition to this year's event is the inaugural Juvenile National
Beach Volleyball Championships. A total of 16 teams for men and women
will compete in Wasaga, representing seven provinces.
A total of 128 teams will descend on Wasaga Beach for the 2000 Nokia
National Championships. Key partners in this event include title sponsor
Nokia, along with Chrysler, Ontario Tourism and the town of Wasaga Beach
as key contributors.
For more information on the Nokia National Championships, check out the
Volleyball Canada web-site at www.volleyball.ca or for further
information, please contact beach@volleyball.ca, or Suzanne Judd at (905)
302-1644.
about us
