Beach League

The Beach League (spelling: The Beach League ) is a German beach volleyball competition . Women and men play a champion in a league system for several weeks. The first edition took place in Düsseldorf from June 13th to July 12th, 2020 . In the women's final, Karla Borger and Svenja Müller prevailed against Melanie Gernert and Sarah Schulz . Third place went to Leonie Körtzinger and Sarah Schneider . Dirk Westphal and Max Betzien won the men's final against Alexander Walkenhorst and Sven Winter . In third place came Milan Sievers and Theo Timmermann , who were put together for the Final Four after Jonathan Erdmann's injury.

background

Initiator Alexander Walkenhorst

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the Techniker Beach Tour and most of the FIVB World Tour tournaments were canceled in 2020 and the Olympic Games were postponed to 2021. The professionals no longer had any official tournaments at a high level. Against this background, the beach volleyball player Alexander Walkenhorst and his podcast colleague Dirk Funk ( without a net and sandy soil ) developed the idea for a new competition in league format. The idea arose when Walkenhorst was in Australia because of a planned World Tour tournament . Game representatives Daniel Wernitz , Constantin Adam (manager of the Borger / Sude duo ) and Markus Prüsener (managing director of a media agency) were also involved in the development.

Walkenhorst pointed out that the resumption of game operations in the Bundesliga helped to implement this project.

There were similar ideas for a beach league in 2004. However, the projects at that time were not implemented because the focus of the best players is on international tournaments.

Attendees

Originally eight duos each competed for women and men. The players had already played in international tournaments or the Techniker Beach Tour. Some duos played in the usual line-up, others were recomposed for the league. In the course of the tournament there were several personnel changes because players were injured or were spared prophylactically.

Women
original duo	Substitutes
Kim Behrens / Cinja Tillmann	for Tillmann: Sandra Ferger (17.-19.6.), for Behrens: Christine Aulenbrock (18. and 19.6.)
Victoria Bieneck / Isabel Schneider	for Bieneck: Silke Schrieverhoff (14.6.), Sandra Ittlinger (15., 16. and 18.6.), Tatjana Zautys (17.6.) and Anna-Lena Grüne (since 19.6.)
Karla Borger / Svenja Müller	for Müller: Chenoa Christ (1. and 2.7.)
Melanie Gernert / Sarah Schulz	no
Leonie Klinke / Lena Ottens	no
Leonie Körtzinger / Sarah Schneider	for Körtzinger: Anna-Lena Grüne (June 18)
Lena Overländer / Sarah Overländer	for L. Overländer: Chenoa Christ (19.6.), Nele Barber (27.6.-1.7.) and Nele Schmitt (2. and 3.7.)
Antonia Stautz / Leonie Welsch	for Welsch: Melanie Preußer (1.7.), Kristina Rübensam (2. and 3.7.)

Men
original duo	Substitute player
Max Betzien / Dirk Westphal	no
Jonathan Erdmann / Theo Timmermann	for Erdmann: Jonas Reinhardt (July 10th)
Felix Glücklederer / Jannik Kühlborn	for both: Niko Meyer and Rudy Schneider (8.-10.7.)
Manuel Harms / Richard Peemüller	for Harms: Moritz Klein (25th and 26th June)
Dan John / Milan Sievers	for John: Simon Pfretzschner (25th and 26th June), Moritz Klein (4-10th July)
Eric Stadie / Benedikt Sagstetter	for stadium: Thomas Kaczmarek (10.7.)
Alexander Walkenhorst / Sven Winter	no
Georg Wolf / Peter Wolf	no

mode

In a league system, men and women take turns playing from week to week. Each week consists of seven game days, on which each team plays two games per day. At the end there is a final four tournament with the best teams.

Women

Results

The main round took place from June 13th to 19th and from June 27th to July 3rd.

Final score	B / T	S / F	B / M	G / S	K / O	K / S	O / O	S / W
Kim Behrens / Cinja Tillmann		2: 0 1: 2	2: 1 2: 0	2: 1 2: 0	2-0 2-1	2: 0 1: 2	1: 2 0: 2	2-0 2-1
Isabel Schneider & "Friends"	2: 1 0: 2		0: 2 0: 2	2-0 2-1	0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 2: 0	2: 1 1: 2	2: 0 1: 2
Karla Borger / Svenja Müller	2: 1 0: 2	2-0 2-1		2-0 0-2	2-0 2-0	2: 1 2: 1	2: 1 2: 1	2-0 2-0
Melanie Gernert / Sarah Schulz	2-0 2-0	0: 2 1: 2	2-0 2-0		0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 2: 1	0: 2 2: 0	2: 1 2: 0
Leonie Klinke / Lena Ottens	1: 2 0: 2	2-0 0-2	1: 2 2: 0	0: 2 2: 0		0: 2 1: 2	2-0 2-0	2-0 2-1
Leonie Körtzinger / Sarah Schneider	2-0 2-0	2-0 0-2	0: 2 2: 1	2: 0 1: 2	2: 1 2: 1		2-0 2-0	2: 1 2: 1
Lena Overländer / Sarah Overländer	1: 2 0: 2	0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 2: 1	1: 2 0: 2		2: 0 1: 2
Antonia Stautz / Leonie Welsch	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 2: 0

table

	team	Number Games	Points	sentences	Balls
1.	Borger / Müller	28	40	42:24	1258: 1166
2.	Körtzinger / S. Schneider	28	40	44:24	1292: 1165
3.	Behrens / Tillmann	28	34	39:28	1207: 1182
4th	Gernert / Schulz	28	32	36:29	1240: 1201
5.	I. Schneider & "Friends"	28	30th	34:31	1224: 1187
6th	Klinke / Ottens	28	28	35:31	1203: 1150
7th	L. Overländer / S. Overländer	28	14th	21:45	1112: 1259
8th.	Stautz / Welsch	28	6th	12:51 pm	1026: 1252
In the event of a tie, the direct comparison decided on the placement.
The teams marked in green qualified for the Final Four, which took place on July 11th. Behrens / Tillmann did not appear there due to injury.

Final Four

Karla Borger & Svenja Müller, winners of the Beach League 2020

The Final Four was played on July 11th.

	Semifinals				final
	Körtzinger / S. Schneider	0
	Gernert / Schulz	2
					Gernert / Schulz	0
					Borger / Müller	2
					3rd place match
	Borger / Müller	2			Körtzinger / S. Schneider	2
	Green / I. Schneider	1			Green / I. Schneider	0

Men

Results

The main round took place from June 20th to 26th and from July 4th to 10th.

Final score	B / W	E / T	G / K	H / P	Y / S	S / S	Wa / Wi	Where where
Max Betzien / Dirk Westphal		2: 1 2: 0	1: 2 0: 2	2-0 0-2	2-0 2-0	2: 1 2: 1	0: 2 2: 1	2: 0 1: 2
Jonathan Erdmann / Theo Timmermann	1: 2 1: 2		2: 1 2: 0	2-0 2-1	1: 2 2: 0	2: 1 2: 0	0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 2: 0
Felix Glücklederer / Jannik Kühlborn	0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 1: 2		2: 1 2: 0	0: 2 2: 1	1: 2 1: 2	0: 2 1: 2	2-0 2-0
Manuel Harms / Richard Peemüller	1: 2 0: 2	2: 1 0: 2	0: 2 2: 0		0: 2 2: 1	1: 2 0: 2	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 0: 2
Dan John / Milan Sievers	0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 0: 2	2-0 2-0	2: 1 2: 0		0: 2 2: 0	2-0 0-2	0: 2 0: 2
Eric Stadie / Benedikt Sagstetter	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 1: 2	1: 2 0: 2	2-0 0-2	0: 2 1: 2		0: 2 0: 2	2-0 2-0
Alexander Walkenhorst / Sven Winter	2-0 2-0	2-0 0-2	2-0 2-0	2: 1 2: 0	2-0 2-0	2-0 2-1		2: 1 0: 2
Georg Wolf / Peter Wolf	0: 2 0: 2	0: 2 1: 2	0: 2 2: 0	1: 2 2: 1	0: 2 2: 1	2: 1 2: 0	0: 2 0: 2

table

	team	Number Games	Points	sentences
1.	Walkenhorst / winter	28	48	49:13
2.	Betzien / Westphal	28	44	46:21
3.	Erdmann / Timmermann	28	36	42:26
4th	G. Wolf / P. Wolf	28	24	27:36
5.	John / Sievers	28	24	28:35
6th	Glücklederer / Kühlborn	28	22nd	28:38
7th	Stadium / B. Sagstetter	28	16	24:43
8th.	M. Harms and Peemüller	28	10	17:49
In the event of a tie, the direct comparison decided on the placement.
The teams marked in green qualified for the Final Four, which took place on July 12th. After Erdmann's failure, Timmermann and Sievers were put together for the Final Four.

Final Four

Max Betzien & Dirk Westphal, winners of the Beach League 2020

The Final Four was played on July 12th.

	Semifinals				final
	Walkenhorst / winter	2
	G. Wolf / P. Wolf	0
					Walkenhorst / winter	1
					Betzien / Westphal	2
					3rd place match
	Betzien / Westphal	2			G. Wolf / P. Wolf	0
	Timmermann / Sievers	0			Timmermann / Sievers	2

media

Twitch broadcasts the Beach League

All games are broadcast as a live stream on the Twitch online platform in HD quality and with live moderation. In 2020, Dirk Funk , Daniel Höhr and Martin Stuber as well as various players and coaches were on duty as commentators . In addition to the games, interviews and other contributions about the Beach League will be shown there. Registered users can use chat during broadcasts . There are also regular votes in the chat. For example, users can vote which team they believe will win the game or the set. In addition, viewers choose an MVP right after each game .

In the first edition in 2020, the broadcasts in the stream reached a total of 100,000 viewers daily. The players involved also received greater reach on social media channels such as Instagram .

organization

The games of the first edition in 2020 took place on the grounds of the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, spectators were only allowed on site in the last few days. The teams were housed centrally in a hotel. The organizers had drawn up a hygiene concept. This included COVID-19 tests for participants and disinfection measures during the games.

In contrast to the Techniker Beach Tour and World Tour tournaments, the Beach League does not play with a Mikasa ball , but with a Wilson ball, which is also used on the US tour of the AVP .

In order to be able to pay prize money to the participating teams, donations were collected from the audience. A total of € 36,000 in prize money was collected.

reception

The German Volleyball Association supported the new competition. DVV sports director Niclas Hildebrand saw this as “a definite opportunity to give beach volleyball a boost and to establish itself as one of the great sporting highlights in summer 2020”. Since Walkenhorst is considered the enfant terrible of German beach volleyball, Jakob Schönhagen writes at Der Spiegel : “The fact that he of all people is now delivering an alternative to the canceled tour is a challenge.” Before the start of the league, Olympic participant Karla Borger assumed “that Level is a bit stronger than on the German tour ”. In the July issue of the volleyball magazine published at the end of June, Felix Meininghaus wrote an article in which he addressed the lack of professional standards. Walkenhorst and others involved then use the term “improvisational theater” self-ironically .

For the qualification for the German Beach Volleyball Championship 2020 , the DVV organizes several tournaments, some of which are held on the same facility as the Beach League. Volker Braun, managing director of the DVV marketing agency, spoke of “partnership instead of competition” in this context. With a view to the Beach League, which is organized independently of the association, he said: "We got the door pushed open."

Possible further development

The Beach League is to be continued in the coming years. A combination with the Techniker Beach Tour is being considered. There are also plans to work with the Bundesliga clubs in indoor volleyball .

Web links

• Official website
• Live stream on Twitch
• Press release from the organizers (PDF)
• Podcast without a network and sandy soil

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Beach volleyball is back - DBL starts in Düsseldorf. DVV, May 27, 2020, accessed on June 6, 2020 . 
2. ↑ It starts in mid-June: The Beach League. Without a network and sandy soil, May 18, 2020, accessed on June 6, 2020 (podcast on Spotify). 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f The} new Beach League starts on June 13th in Düsseldorf. Volleyball Magazine, May 20, 2020, accessed June 6, 2020 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Explosive initiative. Der Spiegel , June 1, 2020, accessed on June 6, 2020 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b} "Football has opened the door to other sports". Die Zeit , June 4, 2020, accessed on June 5, 2020 . 
6. ^ ^{A b} Klaus Wegener: Beach volleyball thought differently: The idea of ​​the beach league. beach-volleyball.de, May 13, 2020, accessed June 6, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Beach League: Teams and schedule are set. Volleyball Magazine, June 9, 2020, accessed June 9, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Beach: The Beach League is on June 13th. started in Düsseldorf. volleyballer.de, June 14, 2020, accessed June 16, 2020 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Walkenhorst declares a new beach league. Sport1 , June 4, 2020, accessed June 6, 2020 . 
10. ↑ "We ran into open doors with all athletes". Deutschlandfunk , June 6, 2020, accessed on June 7, 2020 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b c d} Great popularity: Beach League in Düsseldorf is well received. Sportschau, July 2020, accessed on July 12, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Dirk Westphal wins Beach League with a new partner. Retrieved July 16, 2020 . 
13. ^ Felix Meininghaus: Class reunion in the sandpit . Ed .: Volleyball magazine. Philippka-Verlag, July 2020, p. 8-9 .
14. ↑ improvisational theater. Without a net and sandy soil, June 29, 2020, accessed July 12, 2020 . 
15. ↑ Achim Dreis: Beach volleyball: The way to Timmendorf. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , June 4, 2020, accessed on June 24, 2020 .