This year, for the first time, two European countries will organise a #BeActive Beach Games in the lead-up to the European Week of Sport. As a partner of the event, ISCA will be at the very first Beach Games in Riga, Latvia, this weekend where the event will take place on the city’s urban beaches Kipsala and Lucavsala. the programme for the event is now available and can be downloaded below.

The two-day event will feature 5km and 10km runs and Nordic walking, beach volleyball (3 versus 3), skateboard, beach triathlon (shooting, swimming, running), beach handball, floorball (3 versus 3), beach tennis, dodgeball, crossminton, beach football. In addition, participants will have a chance to compete in open water swimming, sailing, SUP boarding and aquathlon (running-swimming-running). They will also be invited to try sports for the first time under the guidance and supervision of a professional: bouldering, petanque, rope pulling and sitting volleyball. Activities in athletics will be specially organised for children.

The project’s national partners, including coordinator the Latvian Sports Federation Council, the Estonian Beach Sports Federation, Lithuanian Union of Sports Federations, Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth, and the Union of Sports Federations in Catalonia, Spain, have selected families to test the Beach Games events and give feedback on their experiences. Spectators will also be invited to join in.

Latvian Sports Federations Council (LSFC) President Einars Fogelis highlights that any beach environment, with a little ingenuity and without a large investment, can be used to relax in a physically active way. Inclusiveness is also important to make the event sustainable, he says.

“Everyone will be welcomed to participate [in the Beach Games], and a special focus will be devoted on families. Competitions and demonstrations along with an opportunity to try less-known games will be offered by the BeActive Beach Games, with a total of 24 different types of grassroots sport that will be targeted towards people of different ages, with different health conditions, physical capabilities and skills."

The second event will be held on the natural beach of Praia da Rocha at Portimao in Portugal on 7-8 September. Portimao is hosting the ACES European City of Sport in 2019, with cultural programmes and more than hundred sports events taking place throughout the year. On a 1.5 km-long Praia da Rocha beach on the Atlantic coast, where games will take place, an independent sport infrastructure is set up annually during the summer season.

The #BeActive Beach Games is one of the steps to fight the prevalent sedentary way of life, by looking for new ways to encourage people to take up active lifestyles in different environments. One of the goals of the Beach Games is to expand the #BeActive movement by offering ideas for an accessible, inclusive and exciting type of physical activity in a new environment – the various beaches spanning around Europe.

The partners’ model for an inclusive and accessible beach games will be established by the middle of 2020, including a manual for game organisers, as well as methodological materials to be used for both individual and organisational purposes. ISCA is working with project partner TAFISA to develop policy recommendations as part of the project’s advocacy efforts.

Find out more about the #BeActive Beach Games here

BeActive Beach Games programme for Riga 17-18 August (PDF, 0.54 MB)