The 2021/2022 Alcohol. Think Again Beach Tour (ATABT) wrapped up two weeks ago at City Beach with another skillful display of athleticism on the sand, and some new tour winners.

• Men’s Elite Winners: Aaron Crook/Adrian Lee
• Women’s Elite Winners: Keete Kreen/Kyla Sanchez
• Men’s Competitive Winners: Hayden Benich/Adam Jacob
• Women’s Competitive Winners: Yasmin Jalil Fredes/Carol Hodgen

The tour featured multiple formats and landed on six different beaches.

This seasons King & Queen of the Court preseason tournament was run alongside the Groundswell Festival in the Scarborough Amphitheatre. Different to regular beach volleyball where teams play an untimed match to the best of 3 sets, this format was an elimination-style beach volleyball race played to a ticking clock, with the goal being to reach the highest number of points while on the Kingside/Queenside of the court. It was a mix of sport and show and proved to be the perfect fit for a crowd looking to be thrilled.

We returned to the fan-favourite Scarborough Beach again midway through the season for the WA State Open, which drew another big crowd who were treated to swag and activities in the Alcohol. Think Again Family Zone presented by Healthway. There was an opportunity to ‘come and try’ volleyball, as well as collect prizes and give-aways donated by our generous event sponsors, Metro Hotel Perth and Morley Mitsubishi.

Tour athletes hit the sand on three additional local beaches, Leighton Beach, Sorrento Beach, and City Beach, where we continued to see a large increase of competitor numbers compared to the previous season.

With the help of naming rights sponsor, Healthway, Volleyball WA were able to take the game to the regional towns of Mandurah and Bunbury. We thank local sponsors the City of Bunbury, and the additional support from the Bunbury Volleyball Association who each helped us to raise the profile of the event.

Multiple teams and athletes shined bright in gold this season.

There was a large group of teams and individual players that walked away with some repeat wins this season, which was different to the previous year.

For the Elite/AAA Women, the standout individual this season was Kirsty Gordon, who had the most tour wins this year at three, two with partner Elizabeth Alchin, and one with partner Jasmine Serra. Jasmine and Elizabeth were the only other individuals to earn two wins this season.

From a team perspective, Kyla Sanchez and Keete Kreen were the only women’s team to win two events together, while the new team pairing of Tessa Anderson and Jana Orszaghova finished the season with one gold and two silver medals as a team.

Katrina Tutton and Jessica Phillips shined in the Women’s Competitive/AA Division, winning four out of the eight events as a team.

The Men’s Elite/AAA competition had one athlete who dominated the tour, Gabriel Abbott, who won five out of the eight rounds. Two of these wins were with partner, Ky Landers. The other three wins were with three different partners, one of which was Maksim Bacovic, who was the only other male to collect two gold medals.

Each round was an exciting spectacle that showcased the appeal of beach volleyball not only as a competitive sport, but also an awesome way to live an active and healthy lifestyle.

Healthway’s Executive Director, Julia Knapton said that Healthway is proud to partner with Volleyball WA to promote the Alcohol.Think Again health message.  “By working with Volleyball WA we are able to raise awareness and educate the volleyball community about responsible service and safe consumption of alcohol,” Ms Knapton said.

For more information about any of our upcoming events, please visit www.volleyballwa.com.au or contact the Volleyball WA office on 9228 8522.