Lausanne, Switzerland, June 17, 2020 – Brazilian beach volleyball players are yet to return to practise, but for two of the country’s top athletes the forced break has been an opportunity to express their love for the sport in a different way.
22-year-old star blocker Ana Patricia Ramos, who won bronze at the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals in Rome with partner Rebecca Cavalcanti, returned to her hometown Espinosa to be with her family during the mandatory quarantine in Brazil and turned an old dream into reality.
“I always wanted to have a sand court here, but never found the time to plan and make it happen,” she said. “It was great to see it taking shape, especially in a moment when we’re not able to play the sport we love. The idea is to use the court as a spot where I can train during the off-season, but also to encourage people from my hometown to play. In my mind, it’s the first step in my dream of starting a social project here in Espinosa.”
Pedro too had dreamed for a long time about building a sand court at his family's home in Santo Antonio do Rio Grande. The bronze medallist of the 2015 FIVB World Championship was heavily involved in the construction, working with the sand and helping the workers to put the court together.
With his mother, legendary former volleyball player Isabel Salgado, and sisters, World Tour standouts Carolina and Maria Clara Salgado, also excited about the project, it’s very likely some really interesting matches will be played on the court soon.
“The idea was to have somewhere our family could practise and just play for fun because we love spending our vacations all together here,” Pedro commented in
an interview to website Globo Esporte. “And I had a lot of fun in the process of building the court. Maybe I can even come here for pre-season, but the court is not just for us, we’d be very happy to welcome anyone from the city who wants to come over and play.”
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