beach and grass volleyball 2020

I might as well jump on this grenade and meet it head on. What is it going to be like this summer? Will we get to play our favorite tournaments around the country? Some have already been cancelled and as we speak there are decisions being made. As a sponsor of many of these events I have not only a personal but a business interest and i think I have a proactive solution to help things move forward.

Tourism

Lets start the discussion with economics. Most of the towns that host these big events depend on tourism. Our volleyball events are only a small part of the busy summer schedule in these towns and they need to get moving at some point with limited openings of bars, restaurants and retail. It’s most likely going to be a slow start, with proper social distancing and sanitary procedures in place. Events like outdoor volleyball tournaments where players are inherently 6 feet or more away from each other and there is no contact should be in the lead position.

Lets build it proactively

No one knows what to do in this scenario, including our leaders and lawmakers. The picture above is a very real possibility and we should be OK with that. Its easy for a state or city to ‘cancel all summer events’ if no one is coming forward with a plan on how things will proceed. The mayor or governor needs to be informed and educated to make the right decisions. We can influence these decisions by outlining how we will run our events and customers within the recommended framework of law.

The list

As mentioned above, 2 or 3 person volleyball is inherently distant. We can implement the following guidelines for players and spectators and add to the list as things arise. Some of these ideas might seem silly but written down as a promise to the decision makers just might make the difference. This is just a place to start, lets move on from here.

• Have a predetermined tournament size– lets look at how many people we had last year and think about how we can manage that amount of people safely. Maybe we need to limit the entries- better than no tournament. We are telling these towns exactly how many people we can bring in, so they know exactly what they can expect. Unknowns are scary right now which is why things are getting canceled. We are smaller participant based events, perfect for setting and testing standards for larger spectator events and concerts. We can lead the way.
• Keep to your social group– set up your area and keep to that area unless you are playing. Have fun and see friends but have a central area (we already do this with e-z ups and blankets)
• Don’t share food and beverages
• Use hand gel- Gel your hands before playing and after playing (keep it at the court or in your bag)
• Use your elbow instead of your hands at the net. It might seem silly but its better than not playing at all!
• Check ins will most likely be on your phone, we were mostly using those systems anyways
• Come see your friends at KAMENA OUTDOOR– We are planning on supporting these events and our own tour sponsors on our summer tour to show that this can and will be done. Our 2020 line is bigger and better than anything we have ever done and we cant wait to show it to you!