Yellowave is set to open a new branch of its popular beach volleyball venue on Hove seafront.
The Brighton beach sports centre, which opened on Madeira Drive in 2007, has been awarded the lease for a series of beach sports pitches at Hove Beach Park.
The new centre will located between the park’s croquet lawn and the sunken garden, opposite the entrance to Sackville Gardens. The 1500 square metre site also includes the former Ladies Bowls Pavilion.
The centre will offer a range of sand sports including volleyball, tennis, footvolley, five-a-side soccer and sand fitness on a pay and play basis.
Yellowave is already developing plans for regular leagues and tournaments, and a school-time offer.
Katie Mintram, Director of Yellowave Beach Sports Venue said: “We are thrilled to be able to bring beach sports to Hove. We will be working with a whole host of clubs, schools and colleges to offer more sand sports in the city to complement the sports on offer at our Madeira Drive site.
“Yellowave Brighton was recently selected as a National Beach Volleyball Development Centre, so we are excited to continue our junior development work at the new Hove Beach Park site.”
Councillor Julie Cattell, lead member for Major Projects, said: “We are really pleased to welcome Yellowave to Hove Beach Park, building on the huge success of the wheeled sports area.
“Together with the tennis and padel courts, the offer of sports and leisure facilities for all ages and abilities has transformed this under used stretch of the Hove seafront.”
When finished, in addition to the sand sports area, Hove Beach Park will feature eastern and western gardens, the wheeled sports areas, tennis and padel tennis courts, an outdoor sports hub including the clubhouse for Hove & Kingsway Bowls Club, and improvements to the croquet area and the facilities at Hove Lagoon.
The park has been designed with partners to deliver significant accessibility improvements, making it one of the most inclusive sport parks in the country.
The first sections of the park are in use already and Hove Beach Park will be formally opened next spring. The sand sports centre is expected to open in the spring or summer 2025.