The Scottish Women’s Beach Volleyball athletes have been preparing hard 
technically and physically over the past few months in preparation for the CEV Continental Cup in Cyprus next weekend. Scotland have been grouped against one of Europe’s tough Beach Volleyball Nations in Ukraine, fello Small Countries Beach ambassadors Cyprus and new opponent Moldova. All teams are strong and it is certainly going to make for an exciting tournament.
With indoor National Team commitments taking priority for many of the athletes, this made the race for selection tough but we believe we have chosen the right pairings to focus our attention on qualifying for Round 2 of the #RoadtoTokyo Olympic Qualification Tournament.
First up we have the well-established performance team of Lynne Beattie and Melissa Coutts. This team have been the driving force behind International beach volleyball in Scotland for the past few years and continue to fly the flag for Scotland and show the future athletes what is possible with sacrifice and determination.
Team 1
#1 Lynne Beattie
#2 Melissa Coutts
The second pair was a tough call as all athletes up for selection brought their own strengths to the selection criteria. Catherine Smy and Katie Barbour have a good understanding of the performance & physical standard of the sport which is a very good starting base for a good future on the international beach circuit.
Team 2
#1 Catherine Smy
#2 Katie Barbour
I would like to thank Shona Fraser, Emma Waldie and Rachel Morrison for their time and commitment to the programme so far. These young guns have a great future ahead and we will definitely see them in the Scotland colours very soon.
Rachel Morrison will act as the reserve for the squad in case of any injuries or forced changes.
In Cyprus, the staffing for the event will be the following:
Head Coach – Martyn Johnstone
Assistant Coach – Lenard Sobieracki
Physiotherapist – Karen Beattie
As we are into the final week of practice, the squads will be involved in a round-robin tournament this Sunday at Portobello Beach, Edinburgh from 10am-4.30pm. Spectators are welcome to come and cheer on the teams. The staff and squads would also like to invite other coaches, or interested parties, who may be interested in the Beach Volleyball game to come and have a discussion with our players and staff throughout the day.
As we fly out to Cyprus next Wednesday for the start of our final preparations, we will provide updates from the camp and information on live streams, results and any other interesting information.
Follow swbvp and beattie_coutts on Instagram for full behind the scenes access at this tournament.
Martyn Johnstone
Head Coach
Scotland Women’s Beach Volleyball