The 2015 ICG will bring 1700 athletes from around the world together for 6 days to compete in Athletics, Football, Gymnastics, Judo, Swimming, Tennis, Beach Volleyball and Indoor Volleyball.
The opportunity has come as City of Edinburgh Council supported by Active Schools Edinburgh, decided to make entries by the City into the 2015 ALKMAAR ICG.
Edinburgh will compete in Athletics, Indoor Volleyball and for the first time a Scottish team will compete in Beach Volleyball at the ICG. The trip will be lead by Heather Darling as Head of Delegation.
The girls Indoor volleyball team have been working hard with their Brazilian Coach Juliana Facanha, with a training camp in May and a tournament against the Scotland YS Women. The Indoor Volleyball team face Kelowna from Canada in their opening match of the ICG.
The beach teams have been at Portobello beach twice per week since Easter, with experienced indoor volleyball coach Ian Brownlee venturing into coaching on the beach. The beach players have also attended the SVA Regional Development Beach sessions at Portobello.
Preparations have gone well with the girls qualifying for the quarter final of the SSS beach championships in St Andrews in April and the boys (U15) getting to the final of the Scottish Beach Tour U18 Regional Championships at Portobello in June. It will be a truly global competition with the boys playing Bankok (Thailand), Los Angeles (USA) and Brantford (Canada) in their qualifying pool and the girls also play Bankok (Thailand), Los Angeles (USA) and Lausanne (Switzerland).
One thing is for sure, it is an outstanding opportunity for these young athletes who have worked hard in their preparations and are ready to represent their City.
Thanks again to City of Edinburgh Council for giving the athletes this opportunity and especially to Mel Coutts and Lynne Beattie with their support to make this project happen.
Ian Brownlee
Beach Coaching Staff
Edinburgh ICG Alkmaar 2015