Beach Volleyball Stars Celebrate the Release of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games Beach Volleyball Schedule

Brazil, USA, Canada and Cuba among top nations competing in this summer's competition.

TORONTO, May 23, 2015 /CNW/ - Today, the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee (TO2015) released its full schedule for both men's and women's beach volleyball, giving fans the opportunity to get their hands on tickets for their favourite matchups featuring some of the world's leading beach volleyball nations.

To mark the release, TO2015 hosted a beach volleyball challenge on the shores of Lake Ontario at the Ashbridges Bay beach volleyball courts. The challenge featured Canadian volleyball Olympic bronze medallist Mark Heese (Atlanta 1996); Canadian Pan Am gold medallists Conrad Leinemann and Jody Holden (Winnipeg 1999); Volleyball Canada beach national coach and four-time Olympic coach Steve Anderson; Volleyball Canada beach high performance director and Olympian Ed Drakich (Atlanta 1996); and several Pan Am hopefuls.

The exciting vibe at today's challenge is just a preview of what's to come this July with the tournament expected to be one of this summer's hottest tickets. Beach volleyball has become one of the most popular and entertaining summer sports at the Pan Am Games. Fans will enjoy the intense competition late into the night with matches going until midnight during the first six days of the tournament. 

Adding to the competition's appeal, both the men's and women's competition will be held at the purpose-built Chevrolet Beach Volleyball Centre. Transformed into an urban beach and set against the backdrop of Lake Ontario and downtown Toronto, the venue will be one of this summer's must-sees. The Centre will welcome thousands of fans and will be located inside CIBC Pan Am Park, which will host an unprecedented 15 sport competitions. It will also be the site of one of the PANAMANIA, presented by CIBC, Live Sites — making for the ultimate street party.

Tickets for the beach volleyball tournament give fans a great 4-for-1 deal. A single ticket to any preliminary match, classification match or pre-quarter-final match session means they can see four games within the same session. Additionally, buying a single semifinal ticket will allow fans to see two semifinal games, and buying a ticket for the final session means the chance to see both the bronze- and gold-medal games.

The TORONTO 2015 Pan Am beach volleyball tournament will host 16 men's teams and 16 women's teams. It will be the first Games tournament in which every competing team is guaranteed five matches, and the first time every match will be played on centre court.

Competition will be intense in both the men's and women's tournaments, with competing countries including defending Pan Am champions Brazil, a country that continues to produce some of the best beach volleyball teams in the world, Pan Am silver medallist Cuba, as well as powerful teams from the United States and Canada.

"It's always good to see the schedule ahead of time, but major competitions bring out the best in all teams and we can't underestimate anyone," said Steve Anderson, Volleyball Canada beach national coach and four-time Olympic coach. "Two things we can count on is that the atmosphere in Toronto this summer will be electric and the competition will be fierce.  Our Canadian athletes are battling it out on the FIVB World Tour right now to see who will represent Canada in the Pan Am Games and they will be in top form to give the home crowd plenty to cheer about."

Women's teams will be divided into the following pools:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Canada	Brazil	United States of America	Argentina
Uruguay	Costa Rica	Colombia	Mexico
Puerto Rico	Chile	Guatemala	Cuba
Cayman Islands	Nicaragua	El Salvador	Trinidad and Tobago

Men's teams will be divided into the following pools:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Canada	Brazil	United States of America	Chile
Uruguay	Mexico	Argentina	Puerto Rico
Guatemala	Venezuela	Cuba	Trinidad and Tobago
Nicaragua	Aruba	St. Lucia	El Salvador

In both the men's and women's competition, Brazil will be playing in the morning in every preliminary-round session, from July 13 through 16, while the Canadian teams will play in every afternoon preliminary session from July 14 through 16.

Canada's men's beach volleyball schedule:

• Tuesday, July 14 vs. Nicaragua at 9 p.m.  BV006
• Wednesday, July 15 vs. Guatemala at 2:30 p.m. BV008
• Thursday, July 16 vs. Uruguay at 9 p.m. BV012

Canada's women's beach volleyball schedule:

• Monday, July 13 vs. Cayman Islands at 8 p.m.  BV003
• Tuesday, July 14 vs. Puerto Rico at 2:30 p.m.  BV005
• Wednesday, July 15 vs. Uruguay at 8 p.m. BV009

The men's and women's beach volleyball pre-quarter-final matches will be held on Friday, July 17 (BV014 and BV015), quarter-final matches on Saturday, July 18 (BV017 and BV018), semifinal matches on Sunday, July 19  (BV020 and BV021), and bronze- and gold-medal matches on Tuesday, July 21 (BV026 and BV027).

To view the full TORONTO 2015 Pan Am beach volleyball schedule for both the men's and women's tournament, visit TORONTO2015.org/0/beach-volleyball-schedule.

To purchase tickets, visit TORONTO2015.org/tickets.

The TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games ticket program is designed to be affordable and accessible for everyone by offering:

Integrated tickets: Every event ticket will allow the holder to access transit on the day of the event.

Affordable pricing: Tickets start at just $20, with 75 per cent of tickets priced $45 and under.

Half-price tickets for persons under 16 years of age, or 65 and over: Tickets will be offered at a 50 per cent— some will start at $10. The number of discounted tickets is limited, so buy early.

Tickets for Parapan Am sporting events will range from $20 to $35 for adults, with a youth (under 16) and senior (65+) discount from $10 to $12.50 available, depending on the event. The number of discounted discount tickets is limited, so don't delay.

Easy options for buying: Tickets can be purchased online at TORONTO2015.org/tickets or at 1.855.726.2015 and internationally at 1.949.333.4824.

About TO2015

The TORONTO 2015 Pan American Games will take place July 10–26 and the Parapan American Games August 7–15. The TORONTO 2015 Games are funded by the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, as well as Lead Partner CIBC and other partners and sponsors

The TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee (TO2015) is tasked with managing and delivering the Games. It is working to bring some of the world's best athletes and artists to Toronto and the Greater Golden Horseshoe region, giving Ontarians a unique chance to be part of the action, and making the region a hub for sport.

For more information about the Games, please visit TORONTO2015.org or follow @TO2015, @TO2015_fr (French) or @TO2015_es (Spanish).

SOURCE Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games

Teddy Katz, Director, media relations and chief spokesperson, TO2015, 416.957.2117, [email protected]