Schedule updated: Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour adds stops to 2022 season

Volleyball World on Monday announced the latest stops in its preliminary schedule for the 2022 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.

A month ago, at the World Tour Finals in Cagliari, Italy, the new Beach Pro Tour was unveiled, a three-tiered system — divided into the Elite 16, Challengers, and Futures — that is replacing the five-star tour that was put into place in the wake of the Rio Olympic Games. Twelve stops were announced then, and six more were added on Monday.

Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour 2022 Schedule

March 10-13: Mexico Challenger
March 17-20: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Elite 16
March 24-27: Mexico Elite 16
March 31-April 3: Itapema, Brazil Challenger
April 7-10: Cape Town, South Africa Elite 16May 26-29: Ostrava, Czech Republic Elite 16
June 2-5: Jurmala, Latvia Elite 16
June 7-19: Rome, Italy World Championships
July 7-10: Gstaad, Switzerland Elite 16
August 11-14: Hamburg, Germany Elite 16
September 15-18: France Elite 16
October 5-8: Red Sea, Egypt Challenger
October 13-16: Maldives Challenger
October: Nanjing, China Challenger
October: China Challenger
November 17-20: Australia Challenger
November 24-27: Sydney, Australia Elite 16

 

Many of the stops have been long-time hosts of international beach volleyball. Rio de Janeiro was the first stop on the FIVB, in 1987, and played host to the wildly popular 2016 Olympic Games. Mexico has typically hosted a fall event, and featured back-to-back-to-back four stars in 2021, in Cancun.

Ostrava is one of the most unique stops on Tour and is a favorite amongst the players. Jurmala recently hosted the CEV European Championships, and is a beloved beach by Latvian Olympian and USC standout Tina Graudina.

Rome, Hamburg, and Gstaad have traditionally put on the grandest shows on the World Tour, with enormous fanbases, iconic sites, and major prize money.

Egypt, meanwhile, has never hosted a tournament, nor has the Maldives, unless you include the small invitational they put on two years ago, documented by the McKibbin brothers. 

An obvious question mark for players and fans like is the total dearth of Futures events, which are the equivalent of one-stars in the old system. The graphic above mentioned that more cities will be announced soon, many of which are likely to be Futures events, as they are the cheapest to run.

There are several gaps in the schedule that are likely to be filled: between Cape Town and Ostrava, Rome and Gstaad, Gstaad and Hamburg, Hamburg and France, China and Australia.

No announcement has been made by the AVP or NORCECA in regards to their schedules for the 2022 beach volleyball seasons.

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