Gunners' defender Armand Traore presented medals to some young London beach players at the Emirates Stadium during the Arsenal - Liverpool match.

Summer 2009 saw the launch of London Beach Volleyball’s Junior Programme with daily training sessions for children of all ages over the summer holidays, the inaugural Junior Beach Regional Championship and concluding with the Arsenal Beach Volleyball Cup competition on 24th-28th August.

The latter was sponsored by Arsenal Football Club as part of their Premier League for Sports scheme. The aim is to increase the participation of children in sports through links with local sports clubs. The event was organised by London Beach Volleyball at Shoreditch Park and run by two qualified volleyball coaches. Eight teenagers- J.V. Assumção, J. Assumção, T. Barros, T. Marinho, B. Carneiro, A. Silva, S. Norton, E. John- were rewarded for their outstanding volleyball skills with a trip to the Emirates Stadium on the 28th October where Arsenal played at home against Liverpool in the 4th round of the Carling Cup. The young players received their medals pitch-side at half time from Armand Traore, a young French left-sided defender/midfielder, and had a great time watching the game.

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to the organisers at Arsenal in the Community- A. Sefton, R. Mckinley, S. Singh- for helping us to put the competition together and looking after us at the football game. Thanks are also due to our coaches, Al Karacoc and N. Mistry, and LBVC chairman, L. Gershwitz, for organising the competition and to Mrs. John for coming with us to the stadium. The kids said they had a great time and will play beach volleyball again next summer. We hope you will able to join us on the sand in 2010 too. Interested? Watch this space for next year’s summer programme.