The Dutch are the world's tallest people. Combine that fact with 450kms of coastline and you get a perfect fit with beach volleyball.
The Dutch are also a sports-loving people, with football, cycling and speed skating among its favourites. The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships The Netherlands 2015 is sure to add beach volleyball to that list.
In 2013, Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen made beach volleyball history when they became the first beach volleyball world champions from the Netherlands. The young team surprised all pre-tournament favourites to claim the world title in Poland, which they will defend on home sand in 2015.
The host nation has an impressive track record in beach volleyball. The sport first took shape in the Netherlands in the 1980s. A Beach Circuit was organised in the early 1990s, which has become a tournament series with over 10,000 teams participating every year.
Beach volleyball in the Netherlands has also become increasingly professional. Specific youth training programmes have been set up for beach volleyball players and elite level athletes train together in a centralised programme. This has led to impressive results, multiple World Tour victories, successes at the European and World Championships.
Recent successes for the Dutch men’s and women’s teams have helped to grow the popularity of beach volleyball in the country. It is hoped that the World Championships will take that popularity to another level, with record numbers of people getting involved in the sport.