Sand Blast: What Next for Beach Games

(ATR) The positive vibe of the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games is a key takeaway from the event just ended in Doha, Qatar.

The six days of competition were largely glitch-free, smooth running and absent controversies from the field of play. In contrast to the suffocating and costly security at larger events such as the Olympics or the IAAF World Championships, the nearly non-existent security measures in Doha gave the AWBG an easygoing ambiance.

The AWBG was an event to enjoy, free of the anguish that is often the Olympic experience.

Not bad for a first time out of the gate, especially with Doha handed the event just four months earlier. San Diego was named the original host at the ANOC General Assembly in October 2015. But failure to secure government and sponsor backing led to the collapse of plans for one of the finest beaches in the world. And in California, with an economy that ranks 10th in the world.

Moving forward, finding a stable host with sufficient time to prepare will be critical if the AWBG are to continue. Three years of preparation versus four months is obviously better. Supposedly as many as a half-dozen locales are interested in bidding for the second AWBG. Hong Kong and Portugal are said to be among them. But ANOC will need to establish a process for bidding that delineates the requirements.

Determining the sports program is one of the next steps. Based on the experience of Doha, a program of 14 disciplines from 13 sports seems to be big enough. Keeping a grip on the number of events and athletes will avoid the complications and higher costs that come with creeping expansion.

ANOC may do well to follow the lead of the IOC. Under the new IOC policy, flexibility is key. Now the objective is to make the Olympics fit a host city rather than forcing hosts to meet difficult standards.

Surfing is a good example of that.Originally set for San Diego, it was cut because Doha lacks the waves to stage a competition. But with adapted versions of sports such as soccer, handball and wrestling on the program, it seems odd not to find surfing there, too.

Sport climbing and skateboard were included in Doha but suffered from their placement at a venue far from the beach. Continuing with these particular sports on the program should depend on whether a host city can provide beachside venues that attract spectators.

Staging a beach games that attracts spectators is another key to the future of the event. Even with free admission and grandstands that held hundreds rather than thousands of spectators, seats at the early events were largely empty.

Without spectators, the atmosphere is diminished. Noisy presentations with loud music can only fill some of the atmosphere missing from those empty seats.

Atmosphere and excitement will be needed to generate international media coverage of the AWBG. The six days of competition in Doha didn’t rate so much as a blip on the radar of dominant sports outlets such as ESPN or Eurosport. The Olympic Channel provided coverage from the live stream from the organizing committee. Both ANOC and future organizers must commit far more substantial resources to promote the event via media outreach and advertising.

A final note on size. With 1300 athletes from 97 NOCs the AWBG pales in size to other multisport events. By that virtue alone the two bugaboos known as cost and complexity can be held at bay. But the participation of more NOCs seems likely if the AWBG succeeds as a driving force for developing sand-based sport. We have seen the impact of size creep on the Olympics, the IOC forced to take action to reduce host city demands.

While the solo sports event under the ownership and patronage of ANOC, the beach games will demand more resources from the 206 member NOCs. This new event joins a crowded calendar that includes the Olympics, continental games, other multi sport events such as World Games and dozens of world championships. Besides time, there’s only so much money to go around from NOC treasuries, whether it’s the U.S. or Barbados.

How to grow without breaking is the challenge of these ANOC World Beach Games.

Reported by Ed Hula.