From July 30 to August 3, the European Beach Volleyball Championships will be organized at the 'Dusseldorfer Rochusclub.' This is actually a tennis club where many tennis legends have showcased their skills in the past. Now, everything is nicely converted, and there's room made for the big names in beach volleyball.

The list of participants is impressive. The men's tournament is richly filled with nearly all the sport's top players, including the reigning Olympic champions David Åhman/Jonatan Hellvig from Sweden, who won the EuroBeachVolley titles in 2022 and 2023. Also present are the Norwegians Anders Mol/Christian Sørum, Olympic champions in Tokyo 2020, world champions in 2022, and winners of no less than four consecutive European titles between 2018 and 2021.

The reigning world champions Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner from the Czech Republic, last year’s sensational EuroBeachVolley winners Martins Plavins/Kristians Fokerots from Latvia (also the silver medalists at the Paris 2024 Olympics), and the Germans Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler are among the main participants. And keep an eye on our northern neighbors Brouwer (ex-world champion) and his new beach partner Van de Velde, or Boermans/De Groot and Immers/Penninga. The women’s list is equally impressive, as no fewer than six former European champions are competing, including defending champion Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Müller from Germany.

Our men's 'rising stars' Joppe Van Langendonck and Kyan Vercauteren could have been among them. There are eight groups of four teams, a total of 32 duos. The Belgian pair is ranked 35th in Europe and just falls outside the entry list. If you study the reserve list, just above Joppe and Kyan are big names such as the Norwegian duo Adrian and Markus Mol, Alexander Horst and Grössing from Austria, and even the Italians Alfieri and Ranghieri. These are no 'rookies.' All these top players are ranked very close together. Just a few points’ difference, and the Belgian talents would now be heading to Dusseldorf.

In the women’s competition, participation of Youna Coens and Inés Piret in the U22 European Championship also falls through because the latter unfortunately had to withdraw — due to a lingering stress fracture — from the national beach circuit and the European youth championships in August. This is all very unfortunate, but it certainly doesn't signal that Belgian beach volleyball is doing poorly.

Let’s take the recent CEV Pro Future Beach in Leuven as an example. No fewer than three Belgian finalists competed for podium places at the beautiful Ladeuzeplein. They made it a glorious day for Belgian volleyball. Joppe Van Langendonck and Kyan Vercauteren, on their way to the final, defeated Polish Olympic participant Piotr Kantor — no small feat — with his new partner Artem Besarab. That’s truly a reference point.

Youna Coens had to look for a new beach partner and found an ideal teammate in Sarah Cools, who was willing to take the place of the unlucky Ines Piret. The new duo outplayed everyone — almost without specific preparation — until they faced the U18 European champions in the final. For a young pair, Lia Berger and Lili Hohenauer from Austria played impressive and mature volleyball. Also very noteworthy is the fine fourth place achieved by Britt Ruysschaert and Isabel Van den Broeck at this international CEV event.

And of course, the eventual winners, Louis and Gilles Vandecaveye, shouldn’t be forgotten. They took gold in Leuven. The culmination of years of effort, passion, determination, and experience was striking and resulted in a wonderful overall victory against Belgian talents Van Langendonck/Vercauteren. All very close, which is promising for the Master Finals, mid-August in Nieuwpoort.

Rik Donckers, trainer-coach of all Belgian beach talents, and Kris Eyckmans, as technical director responsible for the national teams, senior youth, and beachers, both wanted to emphasize the positive signals. Two men’s teams in the final of a CEV tournament and one women’s team is nothing to sneeze at.

Kris Eyckmans: "We had set two major goals for Kyan Vercauteren and Joppe Van Langendonck. Unfortunately, qualification for the European Championships — though very close — was just missed. In the world ranking, we are targeting the 45th place. We're working on a four-year trajectory, with participation in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as the absolute culmination. We've only been working for a year, so we still have three years to make the necessary progress."

"In two Challenger tournaments — a level above this Future tournament — they recently, in Mexico and China, unfortunately failed to reach the main draw both times. Had they done so, they would have earned more points and most likely been at the EC now. That would have given those young men a very different feeling. Back then, Kyan and Joppe proved they were very close. It could have been a turning point in their development. They really showed their potential then. That’s why we have great faith in their 'road to Los Angeles.' The talent is evident."

"Now we need to evaluate together how we can do this better. With a larger support staff, for example. We’re working hard on that. With Olivier Van Damme (doctor), Thomas Boon (physio), Karolien Rector (dietitian), Stef Van Puyenbroeck (psychologist), and Ans De Mayer (physical coach), we’re expanding the group around our beachers. We see this is important for their support. We want to create the best conditions for them to make progress."

Rik Donckers: "The international beach volleyball rankings are very tight. Currently, no team from our country is at the EC. With the same number of points, Kyan and Joppe would have easily qualified among the women. However, if you examine the rankings closely, you’ll see that — except for a few young Swedes — hardly any U21 boys are at the EC or in Challenger tournaments. Girls at that age are further in their development, for boys it goes a bit slower. That’s just the way it is, so we want to turn that into a story with more successes. With ups and downs, and for now with sparring partners from our own country."

"To raise the level, we organize training camps — recently seven days in Portugal — or we leave a bit earlier for international tournaments, so we can spar and train with all the top players. We’re also going to invite other countries to train with us in Leuven. These are deliberate efforts to improve quality. And gradually, with the support of Sport Vlaanderen, we need to evolve towards a system in which a scout, an assistant, and a physio always go along to tournaments for permanent support."

"Mentally, too, there is still work to be done. It’s a process of growth, since they are different personalities. They are actually two opposites. It’s great to see that things are heading in the right direction. That was already very clear here in Leuven. They need to grow closer together and meet somewhere in the middle. It’s getting better and better. The weak point of one becomes the strong point of the other."

"Top sport is actually a synonym for achieving results. During the CEV Futures, such as in Leuven, a podium finish is expected. In CEV Challengers, the main draw is the goal. It is always tough. In beach volleyball, that's not easy, because there are only two of you. It’s like a marriage, you see. Many people don't realize these two men drop everything to succeed in their mission. That must be given its due place. The potential is there, as is the belief.

Text: Walter Vereeck