Skyball players relishing NEVZA challenge on Bridlington South Beach

They are two of a number of players who will be representing their country from 27th to 29th June (Seniors) and 1st to 3rd July (Youth) who train at the East Coast town’s South Beach, where the event will be staged.  

The event – being supported by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Skyball – follows the successful staging of the Youth section of the event last summer. 

Bordering the North Sea, Bridlington can be exposed to the elements, particularly strong winds, but Dylan and Krystina say they will be ready for whatever conditions are thrown at them. 

Both were competing in the Skyball-run Yorkshire Series this weekend just gone (14th and 15th June) and are ready to go head-to-head with the likes of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden on the international stage.  

“It will be a good help to have played here quite a bit before,” said Dylan, who was part of the Leeds Gorse indoor team to win the U18 National Cup in April. 

“There’s not much you can do about the weather, but if it is tough conditions then it will be hard for everyone. I’ve been playing here (in Bridlington) for three or four years now and that definitely helps.” 

Krystina added: “It’s always hard to push yourself against good teams, so we are going to go out there and do our best. 

“I’m really happy to be representing Yorkshire and we’ve been preparing in the same way as we always do for our events – training hard.” 

Other players based at Skyball and who also play indoors for Leeds Gorse include Emmanuel Oretoye, Daniella Tchandeu, Lauren Thorn, Maks Makowski and Joshua Cosgrove, with the latter two playing in both the Senior and Youth events. 

Taking a keen interest in their progress will be Skyball founder and Leeds coach Pete Makowski, who is also part of the England coaching team for beach volleyball. 

He said: “We have worked hard on this beach for the last 15 years - and been bringing junior players through for at least the last eight years - so seeing some of those young players representing England here in Bridlington is a dream come true. 

“It shows the amount of work and resilience we have put into the beach programme here in Yorkshire.” 

Spectators are welcome to come along to both the Senior and Youth tournaments to watch the action, with no charge for admission. 

If you can’t make it along to cheer on the players in person, you can also view the action live on the Volleyball England YouTube Channel here. 

Find out more about the NEVZA Beach Championships on the event’s dedicated webpage here.