Publication date: 07 Jul 2025
About Pro Tour, the new beach volleyball competition series
The Pro Tour is a new series of tournaments in beach volleyball that takes place under the auspices of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).
As of March 2022, the tour consists of 3 levels:
- The first and most prestigious category is the Top 16, for the 16 strongest pairs for men and women;
- The second level – Challenger, for 24 pairs, a successful performance in this category gives a chance to get to the Top 16;
- The third level is Futures, a competition for young athletes who are not yet ranked.
You can find information on the Pro Tour series of tournaments at this website
Pro Tour 2025
In 2025, one of the main international beach volleyball tournaments continues — the Beach Pro Tour from FIVB. This is a series of competitions that take place all over the world and are divided into three levels: Futures (for young and beginner couples), Challenge (intermediate level) and Elite16 (top teams in the world).
The season started in March in New Zealand, and from spring to late autumn, stages follow one after another: Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Turkey, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, South Africa and other countries. Large prizes are played out at each stage, and the strongest duets on the planet — both men and women — take part.
One of the most exciting events of the season is the Elite16 tournament in Gstaad (Switzerland), which takes place from July 2 to 6, 2025. This is already a traditional stage with a 25-year history, and real beach volleyball stars come here. Among them are the current world champions and Olympic medalists. This year, intense games are expected with teams from Norway, the Czech Republic, Latvia and other countries. The prize fund is 40,000 euros for the winners.
The final stages of the Pro Tour will be held in the fall: in October – in Qatar and South Africa, and the season will end in November in Australia, where the World Championship will be held.
History of the Pro Tour in beach volleyball
California is the birthplace of beach volleyball. All games played at that time were considered amateur. The first official competitions were not held until 1947. With time, the game began to gain momentum. And attract sponsors who were willing to pay real money for the games. It was then that professional teams started to be formed. And there were special federations which organized tournaments appeared.
The first unofficial World Championship was held in 1987, and only 10 years later, in 1997, the official championship was held in Los Angeles. At the time, the men’s and women’s champions were the Brazilian teams.
All of a sudden, in 2021, the International Volleyball Federation announced that the Beach Volleyball World Tour would be replaced in 2022 by a new tournament, The Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.
Some interesting facts about the game of beach volleyball:
- In 1948, athletes competed for the valuable prize of a case of Pepsi;
- In Europe, Beach Volleyball was discovered by French nudists. At a time when the game was the leading attraction on the beach in Franconville;
- Two unusual pairs from Georgia competed at an Olympic tournament in Beijing. As it turned out later, they were athletes from Brazil who had obtained a second citizenship to make it easier for them to get into the tournament.
Keep an eye on the dates of the Pro Tour and other events in our Sports events calendar.
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