Volleyball WA’s Beach Tour returns as state’s top players gear up for summer season

Tessa Browne is coming off an incredible Australian Volleyball Super League victory with the Perth Steel, but it is the beach she has her eyes set on for the next few months. Browne is one of many of the state’s top volleyballers who are swapping the court for the sand in the warmer months as she gears up for the start of Volleyball WA’s Beach Tour. The eight-date Beach Volleyball tour begins on Saturday and Sunday at City Beach and will continue throughout the summer, including the WA Open at Scarborough Beach in February. The tour pits pairs against each other across Perth and WA’s best beaches, and Browne enters the season in good form, having won the women’s competition at Groundswell Festival in Scarborough a few weekends ago. For Browne, who contributed to the Steel’s dominant performance in the revamped AVSL’s inaugural grand finals - both the women’s and men’s teams won their respective titles - beach season was a welcome change-up. “It’s such a different game to indoor. It’s a lot slower and I would say you need to be more crafty to play this game,” she said. “Although it’s the same set of skills, you just perform it so differently, with a lot more care and precision. “It’s a complete change of pace, but it gives you a chance to work on things - with indoor, I only really play front-court, but it gives me a chance to work on my passing and setting as well as attack, and gives you a chance to work really closely with just one other person rather than a huge squad.” Browne said despite the laid-back feel of playing at the beach, the level of competition meant the intensity was still high. “The build up to an indoor game is so intense and it’s so long, but with beach, you rock up with your partner, have a yarn, do a quick warm-up and you’re playing multiple games a day,” she said. “You have to mentally check in and out all day while having to manage your hydration a lot more and so it is super different in that aspect with having to play like three or four games per day, and you’re out in the sun. The competition will be an open format, where competitors can choose to participate in the elite or competitive division. Both divisions will play across both days, with pool play on Saturday and single elimination finals on Sunday.