STORE 
MY BEACH SOCCER 
Guests and speakers enjoyed the event held during the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup
The FIFA Beach Soccer Workshop took place on Friday morning in the Dubai Room of The Westin Mina Seyahi Hotel as a host of experts and beach soccer figures discussed the sport’s vision for the next few months.
The event – held annually alongside the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup – is regarded as a key centre for discussion within the sport as it seeks to create opportunities to shape the beach soccer’s future.
First up at the workshop was Jeff Ehrenkranz, President at Octagon Marketing International, who spoke about the issue beach soccer faces when it comes to attracting big name brands on a regular basis.
Having talked of the value sponsors place on having measurable commercial assets and owning a property within an event, he said: “Beach soccer is in great shape, it is. If you’re creating a sport, you would want great content and engaged fans and a product that worked on TV, something that is relatively in expensive and something that looks great.
“We’re coming from a great place but how do we make these key things happen in our sport? How do we evolve? That’s what we all have to ask ourselves.”
Simon Clegg, Chief Operating Officer of the European Games in Baku and now in the same role for the Dubai Expo in 2020, then recorded a video message for the workshop.
With discussion centering on making beach soccer an Olympic sport, he said: “It’s a very exciting sport, fast moving.
“It’s great for me to be here, to come down and see this stadium and the amazing beach soccer players. I very much look forward to coming back. This would be fantastic in the Olympics. It’s important that people in the beach soccer community dream of that. Maybe one day that dream will come true.”
Adding to that theme, Beach Soccer Worldwide’s Executive Vice-President Joan Cusco, continued: “The content [of beach soccer] is phenomenal. Look at yesterday’s games, the passion and tension and the show we saw was unbelievable. We have an amazing sport.
“Every regional committee has an influence in these [IOC] memberships. Most of the world, when we talk about beach games, beach soccer is number one. This is the road map we need to follow to influence the IOC. We need your help in this area, this is where you can help. We have beach soccer in 140 markets around the world, that’s 140 lines of communication.”
Following a short break, Brent Rahim of the FIFA Development Department took guests through the FIFA Teaching Manual and FIFA Forward Programme, both of which serve to lay the foundations of the sport.
“We hope this tool [teaching manual] will help raise the level of the game,” he said.
“It’s important that coaches understand the intensity has to be of a certain level. All instructors are trying to give that kind of tactical detail that can make the difference in a game.
“We try tailor the content to trends the game, so we analysed the last FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and use that in the coaching tool to take the game forward.
“Funding is available within the FIFA Forward Programme and if beach soccer is a priority for federations, then it’s a possibility. You guys have a chance to think about this and see where there may be possibilities.”
The penultimate speaker was Anton Sealey, President of the Bahamas Football Association, who will host the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in April and May next year.
“We will be ready for you,” the BFA president explained. “Our preparations have begun in earnest and we are satisfied with where we are right now.
“We have a working session with FIFA and BSWW soon where we will accelerate our progression, I’m sure. The whole country has embraced this wonderful opportunity given to us by FIFA to host this event.”
After guests were given a run-through of planning for the showpiece event, BSWW Deputy Vice-President Gabino Renales concluded the event by detailing what the schedule for the next 12 months looks like.
“Federations are investing more and more efforts to make the sport grow in their regions,” he explained, referencing the huge number of countries set to hosts tournaments in the coming months.
“We are also trying to implement more women’s competitions in the European season, the Euro Winners Cup was successful and we want to repeat that. I encourage everyone to create tournaments for women and increase the number of participating teams and players.”
All events will be added to www.beachsoccer.com when confirmed
