Thanks to Da Nang's favourable conditions in practice and competition, footvolley is expected to become the strength of the city's beach sports in addition to football and beach volleyball.

The development of beach footvolley - a new type of beach sport - is being promoted by the Da Nang government. Photo: P.N

Footvolley is a blend of beach volleyball and soccer and is originated from Brazil. It has been developed in Viet Nam in recent years.

Footvolley is a game played on a sand volleyball court measuring 18x9m between teams of 2 or 4 players. The court is divided into two equal parts, separated by a net hanging on two vertical poles. Each part of the yard has an area of 9x9m.

Serves are made by kicking the ball over the net from the same baseline position as in volleyball, except that it is played, by using your feet instead. The purpose is to play the ball over the net, to the opponent’s side without making the ball touch the ground on one's side of the court. A ball phase ends only when the ball hits the ground or until a player commits a foul.

Recently, the movement of playing footvolley has been responded by many athletes in the city. In particular, many outstanding athletes have been selected for the city’s footvolley team.

In order to improve their professional skills, footvolley athletes maintain regular training at local beaches.

Mr. Tran Van Hung, an athlete of the city's footvolley team said "This is a new and interesting sport, requiring players to have good footwork skills and to coordinate well with teammates. Along with football and beach volleyball, this type of beach sports can develop strongly in the city in the near future”.

Beach sports thrive in Ngu Hanh Son and Son Tra districts. In particular, football and beach volleyball help these two districts achieve success in the municipal-level sports tournaments.

According to Mr. Huynh Ba Duong, Deputy Director of the Centre for Culture, Information and Sports in Ngu Hanh Son District, in order to diversify beach sports, the district will promote the development of footvolley in the near future. Currently, athletes maintain training and are ready to participate in the city’s footvolley tournaments.

Meanwhile, Mr. Vu The, Director of the Centre for Culture, Sports and Information in Son Tra District, affirmed that aside from football and beach volleyball, the district will organise a footvolley tournament to spread the movement.

In order to promote the development of the footvolley movement in the city, the municipal Department of Culture and Sports has recently coordinated with the S&A Football Centre to host the first-ever Da Nang Open Beach Footvolley Tournament at the East Sea Park.

The tournament has attracted 30 footvolley players from 8 teams, namely Ba Ria - Vung Tau, An Giang, Long An, Quang Tri, Ho Chi Minh City 1, Ho Chi Minh City 2, Da Nang 1 and Da Nang 2.

These teams have been divided into 2 groups, competing in a round-robin cformat to choose the two first and second placed teams in each group to compete in the semi-finals. In the event, the tournament’s organisers have awarded 4 teams with the highest positions.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports Nguyen Trong Thao acknowledged that, compared to other localities, Da Nang has many favourable conditions to develop beach footvolley.

He revealed that, in the coming time, the city will continue to organise beach sports championships, including beach footvolley tournaments, in order to create useful playgrounds for local athletes to improve their skills.

Reporting by PHI NONG - Translating by M.DUNG