Thirteen courts, 4,800 tons of sand, delivered by 175 semitrailers. The new beach volleyball facilities of the Technische Universität München (TUM) officially opened on Monday, June 26th. In only nine months of construction, in the Olympiapark - as part of the TUM campus in the Olympiapark (CiO), 13 beach volleyball fields have been created next to the BMW World, all of which meet international standards.
"We now have the largest and most modern beach volleyball facilities in Bavaria, which will greatly enrich our offer as a university sport," says a delighted Michael Hahn, Director of the Central University Sports Center (ZHS) of the TUM.
A unique flair and international standards
During the course of the inauguration, Hahn together with Prof. Dr. Ansgar Schwirtz, Dean of the Department of Sports and Health Sciences and Prof. Dr. Arnulf Melzer, a representative of the TUM President responsible for fund raising, as well as Klaus Drauschke, president of the Bavarian Volleyball Association (BVV), each carried out a symbolic serve in the direction of the playing fields.
In the assessment there is agreement: "I am very enthusiastic about the unique flair in the Olympiapark. The facility offers great opportunities for recreation as well as for the realization of sports studies," says the dean, Prof. Schwirtz. BVV President Drauschke is happy to see "a great facility which is not often to be found in Germany. I think this will sow the seed for beach volleyball in Bavaria and raise the sport to a completely new level." Prof. Melzer adds, "We support the Olympic heritage and fulfill the attractive sport of beach volleyball with further life. All of the fields meet the international standards - as is common for the TUM."
Among the guests of the inauguratory event, Hahn was able to welcome two "neighbors": Marion Schöne, the director of Olympiapark GmbH, who attended the inauguration along with Bernd Konrad, the head of sales and marketing for the adjacent BMW world. In addition, Prof. Dr. Peter Brenner was present as the President's representative for the "Jubilee 2018".
The Beach Volleyball World Cup for the TUM Student Jubilee
In 2018, the Technical University of Munich celebrates its 150th anniversary. Within the framework of the anniversary, numerous campaigns will be carried out during the course of the year. Highlights include the Beach Volleyball Student World Cup (WUC). "We applied for the event three years ago and were awarded the contract, which was decisive for the rapid completion of the facility," Hahn explains.
For the 13 new fields, a number of barely used tennis courts were removed. In addition, the also rarely used golf, short play facility had to be eliminated. The conversion will remain long-term. "One of the core elements of our concept for the 2018 World Cup is sustainability. We will use this facility not only for the World Cup, but also to create great play and training opportunities for students and external beach volleyball players," says Hahn.
All of the courts can also be rented by external, interested parties, and "at a market price", says Hahn. This varies between € 8 and € 20 per hour, depending on the time of the day and whether or not the players have access authorization for the university.
German University Championships in beach volleyball from July 10th to 12th
The first sporting highlight will already follow in two weeks. From July 10 to 12, the ZHS and the faculty will host the German University Championships in beach volley at the new facility, in which more than 60 teams will be taking part in Munich.
"The high-class events that our faculty and university sports are carrying out demonstrate, on the one hand, our great developments and, on the other hand, the correlation between theory and practice, which is very important to us and which is also reflected in the events. I am looking forward to the German University Championships and to the World Cup in the coming year," says Schwirtz.
Further information about the beach volleyball facility on the page of university sports
For booking the beach volleyball courts
Contact:
Franziska McKay
Zentraler Hochschulsport München
Connollystraße 32
80809 München
Telephone: 089 289 24655
E-Mail: franziska.mckay(at)tum.de
Text: Fabian Kautz
Photos: TUM/Heddergott, TUM/Benz, ZHS/Ratzel