The Brazilian Praia Clube, from Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, was officially recognised as a Beach Volleyball Centre of Excellence by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) during the Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 seeded by the club.

Guto Braga, President of Praia Clube; Giba, the Olympic champion and FIVB Ambassador; Marco Túlio Teixeira, President of South American Volleyball Confederation (CSV); Marcelo Wrangler, Executive Manager of CSV; Tomás Mendes, President of Minas Gerais Volleyball Federation; and other sports and volleyball authorities were present and inaugurated a monument that symbolizes the milestone.

“We have become a reference training centre for all national teams in the world and for all the FIVB’s projects to improve beach volleyball in emerging countries. For us this is fantastic”, said Guto Braga, Praia Clube’s President.

The official recognition of Praia Clube as a Beach Volleyball Centre of Excellence by the FIVB is a major milestone for national and international beach volleyball. Athletes as well national and international teams will be able to use Praia Club’s facilities for training and preparing for competitions.

"This represents much more than what we are seeing. The history of the Beach Volleyball Centre of Excellence is being written and the whole world will be inspired by it. Praia Clube is a pioneer in the evolution of world beach volleyball. It is a professional structure aimed at preparing future champions,” said Giba.

Reference in beach volleyball

Praia Clube has made history in beach volleyball. It is also the first club in Brazil to offer a complete training center for the full Olympic cycle. Due to its excellence, it reaps great results and has become a reference for others to follow.

Duda and Patrícia, Praia Clube’s team, became world Champions in Rome, Italy, in the first year of the project. They also won some stages of the Beach Pro Tour – Elite 16 and took top spot in the world rankings. Besides them, Tainá/Victória (24th in the world ranking), and Saymon/Vinícius are also athletes of the Club.

“This recognition is well deserved. The South American Volleyball Confederation, has followed the Praia Clube process in recent years. I can only thank the club that has been a pillar of volleyball in Minas Gerais, Brazil and now in all the world,” said Marco Túlio Teixeira, CSV President.

In 2022, Praia Clube hosted the finals of the South American Circuit of beach volleyball and the Brazilian stage of the Beach Pro Tour - Elite 16. In 2023, both competitions will happen again at Praia Clube.

“This beach volleyball project started in January 2022. This year, Uberlândia will be the only city in Brazil to host the pre-Olympic race”, said Guto Braga.

Founded in 1935, Praia Clube has an area of ​​301,000 m², more than 600 employees and more than 55,000 associates.

The Unimed Arena, Praia Clube's sand sports complex, has 15 courts, five of which comply with international beach volleyball standards.