VOLLEYBALL returns to the sands of Weymouth on Tuesday evening with the start of the Weymouth Beach League.

This popular competition is back for another season and will culminate in the 27th Weymouth RAF Careers Beach Classic, Britain’s premier beach volleyball event, which will take place from July 24-26.

Tuesday’s sessions will serve as a warm up to the season with players gathering on the sands near the Pavilion to get used to the conditions again following a busy indoor season.

All are welcome whether you are an experienced player or a beginner.

For the first time this year there will be three levels of competition. The A and B series will continue, as in previous years, but in addition there will also be an Under-16 level.

Each week there will be a separate competition at each level with players able to gain points in order to gain a Weymouth Beach ranking.

This year the A Series could be very interesting. Terry Oldrid is expected to be back to try and regain his 2008 title of ‘King Of Weymouth Beach’ but he will face stiff competition from players such as David Markwick, James Tagart, Russell Laming, Jules Stout, Dom Cosserrat and Rob Semmance, who were all on Oldrid’s heels last year. However, the player to watch this summer may well be Ryan Stout, who at 15 years-old is the current British Under-18 Champion and will be looking to move up from his sixth-placed finish last year.

In the women’s competition, Louise Bugler and Leanne Studley will be seen as favourites but they will face still opposition from the rapidly improving Ellen Dewey and Amy Birch.

The new Under-16 competition should give many of the players from local schools who have competed in the indoor league this year the opportunity to try Beach Volleyball for the first time and hopefully some players will emerge who can do as well as Ryan Stout Action starts on the beach at 6.30pm on Tuesday evening.

If you are interested in playing you must register at the Pavilion end of the beach between 6pm-6.30pm.

Entry is free for the first warm up week and after that it will be £8 per team and £4 per team for Under-16s.

For more details visit weymouthbeachvolleyball.co.uk