VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - This weekend, the North American Sand Soccer Championships returns to Hampton Roads after being canceled last year because of the pandemic.
The event is the largest beach soccer tournament in the world.
Lauren Bland, Executive Director of the Hampton Roads Soccer Council, says that this year's event will be smaller than normal years, but will still feature just under 700 teams and thousands of athletes.
"A couple weeks ago we weren't even sure what this event would look like," Bland said. "We are so glad that our event it open, it looks normal, there will be crowds of people down here."
"It also serves as a reunion for a lot of folks," North American Sand Soccer Championships director of operations Matt Whalen said. "A lot of people look at our event as a way to get back together having been separated. If you're part of the soccer community here in Hampton Roads, a lot of teams use this as the bookend, so this serves as that last hurrah before summer hits."
Saturday's soccer matches get underway at 8 a.m. and last until sunset. Sunday's matches last from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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