As we look forward now to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles Beach ParaVolley is making a bid to have the sport included in both events.

In March of this year VWA’s Brad Barclay, South West & Peel Development Coordinator and Beach ParaVolley Athlete was appointed to be a committee member of the ParaVolley Asia Oceania Beach Commission. The appointment is for a period of up to two years and he will work alongside his teammate from Victoria Nick Coburn, Beach Commissioner to attract member nations and events to the region. Brad has also applied for a role on the Volleyball Australia Disability Participation Working Group committee (VADPWG).

Brad is playing a significant role alongside World ParaVolley to have the beach discipline added to the Commonwealth Games in 2026. Under the proposal, the beach ParaVolley competition would be held alongside able-bodied competition, mirroring the integrated program of Para sport which was on offer at the recent Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The organisation also has a bid in for beach ParaVolley to be included at the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics notice of their success should come in January 2023.

Locally athletes have attended a camp in Canberra in September at the Australian Institute of Sport.

Lastly, Brad and his two teammates will be traveling to Tavares, Florida in December to play in their first international tournament since May 2019. This event will give our sport great exposure as there is a $10,000 prize pool for Males and the same for Females and will be featured alongside the AVP tour as well as being possibly televised.

Brad is Captaining the men’s team at this event, alongside Jayden Coffey (Tasmania) and Christopher Henderson (Victoria). The trio just announcing a sponsorship from Challenged Athletes Foundation which will help with their travel expenses.

“The Challenged Athlete Foundation’s vision is to be a recognised leader in a movement through which physically challenged athletes are accepted and respected at the same level as able-bodied athletes, to have a great and significant impact on each physically challenged athlete served, and to reach out to the physically challenged community by providing inspiration, awareness and mentoring,” said Brad.

Volleyball is a sport that can be adapted to suit any individual and if you would like to give it a go please check out our Adaptive Volley page for upcoming opportunities.