Volleyslam beach volleyball festival gets underway on Gold Coast

Volleyslam is underway for the sixth consecutive year on the Gold Coast with the beach volleyball festival set to light up Coolangatta over the next 10 days.

Players competing in each event joined together with sponsors and government stakeholders at Coolangatta on Friday as the Mahindra Australian Beach Volleyball Championships got underway.

Volleyball Australia Chief Executive Andrew Dee said Volleyslam was shaping as the biggest ever, despite uncertainty over the event just over a week ago.

Dee shared “In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Alfred we really weren’t sure whether Volleyslam could go ahead. However the City of Gold Coast has done an incredible job to enable us to run the full program of Volleyslam tournaments and we cannot thank them enough for getting us on the beach.

“Volleyslam has become a fixture on the Australian beach volleyball calendar and the festival continues to grow. This year we have record entries for the Mahindra Australian Beach Volleyball Championships and Australian Beach Volleyball Schools Cup, which has delivered a record number of total Volleyslam entries of 658 teams.

“We have incredible support from our government stakeholders in Tourism & Events Queensland and Experience Gold Coast - they’re contribution goes a long way to making this festival of our sport as iconic as it has become.

“Rarely can we see Olympians, Commonwealth Games Champions and emerging stars playing on courts next to school kids trying to emulate their heroes, but Volleyslam gives us the chance to do just that.”

Players from around the world will join a record number of local competitors, all vying for glory in four huge events:

•2025 Mahindra Australian Beach Volleyball Championships

•2025 Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships

•2025 Australian Beach Volleyball Schools Cup

•2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures

The event doubles as the fourth and final round of the 2024/25 Australian Beach Volleyball Tour which has made its way through Adelaide, Canberra and regional Victoria before this weekend’s decider on the Gold Coast.

Bronze medal matches on Sunday 23rd March will be streamed via SBS On Demand while the Gold medal matches will be televised live around the country on SBS.

Following this weekend’s event, some of the best young talent in the country will represent their states and territories in the four-day Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships. After the winning teams are decided on Thursday, many athletes will swap their state colours for their school sports kit for the Australian Beach Volleyball Schools Cup.

The three-day event will crown its champions on the same day some of the best players in the world are fighting for glory in the Beach Pro Tour Futures event.

Futures returns to Coolangatta from Wednesday 26th March for the fourth straight year, with the champions set to be decided on Sunday 30th March as Volleyslam finishes with a crescendo. Super Sunday action will be streamed through YouTube via Beach Volleyball World.

The 10-day extravaganza is the final taste of elite beach volleyball we’ll see in Australia before Adelaide hosts the World Championships later this year.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate added "we are rapidly building a reputation as the No 1 beach volleyball destination in Australia and even Cyclone Alfred couldn’t get in our way. I applaud organisers, sponsors and associated schools and clubs for sticking with their commitment to this year’s tournament. The 2025 Slam promises to build on the momentum of past events with an international format as well as youth and schools-based competitions. Welcome to the spiritual home of beach volleyball - Coolangatta.''

Mahindra Automotive Australia National Manager, Ankit Taneja shared "our dearest congratulations to the Volleyball Australia team and the City of Gold Coast council for turning around and executing this event in such a magnificent way which seemed unbelievable a couple of weeks back."

Volleyslam 2025 is supported by Experience Gold Coast and the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland.

Image. James Halliwell (Mahindra), Georgia Johnson, Taylah Tulloch-Juleff, Ankit Taneja (Mahindra), Cr Bob La Castra, Riley Akanoa, Lizzie Alchin