Echoes of the Euro 2008 Cup Final rippled through my mind as Spain and Germany squared up to each other, but this time the sport was beach volleyball and the setting was Siam Park. Germany went into this tournament as one of the favourites and lived up to their billing, Jonas Reckermann was a tower of power serving and Misha Urbatzka  mopped up most of the balls that threatened to hit the sand. Blimey, I almost sound like I know what I am on about! Well I have enjoyed the Tenerife Champions Cup, it has taught me a new respect for this sport that I pass by so often at the beach.

Germany won 10,000 euros in prize money, the cup and individiual trophies, plus some rather nice winners shirts, can’t be bad. Great Britain had fallen by the wayside in the group stages but Jody Gooding and Robin Miedzybrodzki are relative newcomers to the sport and hopefully their learning curve will peak in London 2012. Spains first team and Germany made it through from one group and France and Poland from the other, ready for todays semis and final.

Spain and France were first on court, the weekend brought the crowds out and the Champions Girls cheerleaders had a new range of skimpy swim wear to tantalise the chaps. Loud happy clappy music was the order of the day, between play, and the action was top notch. France took a surprise first set lead by 21-17, that spurred Spain to move up a gear and they levelled with a 21-19 second set. All to play for in the deciding set, this time Spain made sure they killed off their opponents 15-11.

Poland and Germany followed, another surprise as Poland went one nil up with a 21-19 set win. The powerful Germans marched back taking the second set 21-11, it seemed they had broken the Polish spirit. No chance, Poland pushed Germany all the way before losing out 15-13.

After 2 such cracking semis, the final, televised live on TV Canarias, had the crowd licking their lips but it was over fairly quickly as Germany crushed Pablo Herrera and Raul Messa 21-14 and 21-12. To the winners the spoils, and the glory of course. The tournament grew in stature and crowds as it went on, and cerainly proved the Siam Park amphitheatre to be a welcome new venue for sporting and musical events. You can also find some of my  other pics and reports from the event on www.discovercostaadeje.com You what? you want one last peak at the girls? Oh go on then, twist my arm.

It’s a serious business this beach volleyball, I arrived in good time for the start of the Tenerife Champions Cup at Siam Park, to find the staff watering and raking the sand court, and a player taking a right pummelling in the physio tent in the corner. Moving into the press and hospitality area around the court, it was baking hot but the sight of the Champions Girls cheerleaders barely dressed and bopping sent my temperature through the roof.

First in action were Pablo Herrera and Raul Messa, Spain’s first team (yellow and red), and Jody Gooding and Robin Miedzybrodzki of Great Britain (blue and red) . At the launch party last night, I got a chance to ask the GB pair (below)about their life as professional players, Jody (left) from Worcester and Martin (right) from Edinburgh had just flown in from a tournament in Brazil and they fly out to Dubai in the early hours of Monday, hectic by any standards. The pair train out of Bath University under their New Zealand born coach, and it’s tunnel vision for the next 4 years as London 2012 is their aim. Before that it was time to take on Spain again after beating them in Brazil.

Watching the game unfold, I started to appreciate some of the finer points like the finger signals behind the back to the team mate and the subtle changes of pace from long shots to short flicks over the net. During breaks in play the pairs rested in their seating areas, honing their concentration, not easy to do with the cheerleaders gyrating just behind them.

So what of the match, Spain took the lead and left GB fighting to stay in touch, before winning the first set 21-15. GB looked to be more even in the next set, but a late burst saw Spain take the set 21-16 and wrap up the match.

It’s a shame the crowd was so sparse, but hopefully the weekend will see a few more people make the effort to see some great sporting action as the competition reaches its climax. 

My technical knowledge of beach volleyball could be written on the back of a stamp, despite being hypnotically drawn to the young women playing down on Los Cristianos beach. Well I’m about to get a master class from the best male pairs players in Europe as the Tenerife Champions Cup unfolds at Siam Park from Friday October 3 to Sunday October 5, and entry is FREE.

Great Britain start the action off against Spain’s first pairing at noon on Friday. Pablo Herrera and Raul Messa took part in the recent Olympics and are the top players in Spain. Great Britain’s duo is Jody Gooding and Robin Miedzybrodzki, who train at Bath University. The pair are gearing up to play on Horse Guards Parade at London 2012, hope they clear up anything the guards horses may have left behind.

Today was the press launch at the amphitheatre, capacity 1,500, just above the Wave Palace and imported beach at Siam Park. Giving a taste of the glamour and excitement to come, the 8 strong cheer leading team of Champions Girls, made a big impression with their alluring smiles. They were a little formal and over dressed today, but I believe they will be strutting their stuff in eye catching outfits during the breaks in games, backed by a light and music display. Don’t worry ladies, this is a mens tournament, and im sure they will impress you with their muscular sporting prowess.

The 8 teams are split into 2 groups of 4, with the top 2 from each group going into the semi final stage. First team to 21 points, or a 2 point lead after the 20-20 draw stage, wins a set, and a match is decided over 3 sets. A third deciding set goes to just 15 points, again with the 2 point lead needed after they hit 14-14. Entry is FREE, don’t go to the main entrance of Siam Park, keep going up the side after you come over the motorway, and look for the huge inflatable orange drink can by the door.

MATCHES

·     FRIDAY OCTOBER 3

·     Noon -  Great Britain v Spain 1  

·     1pm - Spain 2 v Germany

·     2 pm - France v Italy

·     3 pm - Poland v Russia

·     4 pm - Spain 2 v France

·     5 pm - Spain 1 v Poland

·     SATURDAY OCTOBER 4

·     Noon - Germany v Italy

·     1 pm - Spain 1 v Russia

·     2 pm - Poland v Great Britain

·     3 pm -  Spain 2 v Italy

·     4 pm - Germany v France

·     5 pm - Russia v Great Britain

·     SUNDAY OCTOBER 5

·     11.30 am - Ist Semi Final

·     12.30 pm - 2nd Semi Final

·     3 pm - GRAND FINAL

It will be the end of the pier show for Cemex Tenerife, when the CERS European Cup winners begin the defence of their roller hockey title in Herne Bay on Saturday October 18. Group C also includes Bassano of Italy and Reus of Spain, but it will be the clashes between Kent coast and Canarian holiday island that really capture the imagination.

Herne Bay United to give them their full title, play out of a sports pavillion on the pier and run a full programme of teams at all age levels, as well as artistic skating classes. It’s a bit of a contrast to Cemex Tenerife who play out of the delapidated Pancho Camurria sports hall, just along from the main bus station in Santa Cruz, in front of crowds of barely 100.

At the start of this season the European authorities ruled that the Pancho Camurria is not up to standard for the European games, so the club have to hope that the council splash some cash on a quick make over or they will need to find an alternative venue. Tenerife Guanches, the in line hockey team used to use the same venue but moved to the new Las Galletas sports hall 2 years ago, that could be a suitable escape route for Cemex.

It’s a hard life for Cemex, like most Tenerife sporting teams, they play in a national league, in their case the Ok Spanish League, and have to fly to away games every other week, very time consuming and expensive. If you want to take in a game, the home season starts on Saturday September 20 at 6pm against Reus.

Dragging myself out of bed every morning for my 9 am pool swim is sometimes hard going, depending on the night befores Dorada intake. Now I have a new inspiration to put my efforts into perspective. Jose Brito and Miguel Cruz set off from El Medano yesterday, to swim around the coast of Tenerife, covering 250 kms in 10 daily stages. The mammoth swim is to promote sport on behalf of Granadilla de Abona and to draw attention to the councils Costa Limpia, cosatal clean up campaign.

The 2 men are doing this unpaid, and have put in months of training, averaging 15 kms per day. Both have a strong swimming pedigree which should serve them well in the challenging days ahead. Jose Brito swam from San Sebastian, La Gomera to Los Cristianos in 2004, and also that year he swam from Lanzarote to Fuerteventura. Cruz has won gold 3 times at 800 metres freestyle in the Spanish national championships, has been in the World top ten for 1,500 metres.

The dolphin like pair set off from El Medano at 10am yesterday with a 5pm scheduled arrival 25kms later at Los Cristianos. They will be shadowed on their swim by 2 boats taking turns, each with 2 crew. The full schedule is as below.

Fri. 12 El Medano to Los Cristianos, 25 kms, 6.25 hours

Sat.13 Los Cristianos to Punta de Teno, Buenavista, 38 kms, 9.50 hours

Sun.14 Punta de Teno to Garachico, 25 kms, 6.25 hours

Mon.15 Garachico to Puerto de la Cruz, 24 kms, 6.30 hours

Tues.16 Puerto de la Cruz to El Pris, Tacaronte, 17 kms, 4.50 hours

Weds.17 El Pris to Taganana, 26 kms, 7.25 hours

Thurs.18 Taganana to Las Teresitas, Santa Cruz, 23 kms, 6.30 hours

Fri.19 Las Teresitas to Candelaria, 25 kms, 6.25 hours

Sat.20 Candelaria to Fasnia, 18 kms, 4.10 hours

Sun.21 Fasnia to El Medano, 26 kms, 7.10 hours

I don’t know about you, but i’m knackered just looking at the route. God speed to both of them and please let them have calm seas and helpful currents.

There is no rich Arab, American or Russian pumping millions into CD Tenerife, although looking at them ripping the soul out of the game in England, that may be a blessing. It’s hard graft for CDT as they strive to reduce the club debt, well it is nearly down to 30 million euros, so any money saving idea is worth considering. The latest brainwave is to get a plane to be used jointly by CD Tenerife and Las Palmas, our deadly rivals from Gran Canaria.

Both teams are in the Segunda Division, just below the Primera big guns of Real, Barcelona etc, and both have to travel to the mainland every other game, often via a couple of changes, all at great expense. The new plane would have both team names and logos emblazened on the side, and would whisk the players quickly and in comfort to away games.

The key man in this cunning plan is Miguel Concepcion, President of CDT and Islas Airways, he has the power to make it happen. I used Islas Airways in January for a return trip to Lanzarote, and they were very good, the plane I snapped on the runway (above) is an Alenia ATR 42 which carries 72 passengers, perfect for a football squad and back up staff.

Maybe they can supply a supporters plane for the Armada Sur , must have a bar, so we can get to all the away games. The whole idea looks good, even if it means sharing a plane with the Las Palmas Pios, we can make sure there is an outside toilet on the week they are flying. So clear the runway for the football special, anyone for duty free?

With my friend Pam over for a week, i’m in tourist mode, showing her the delights of the island. Saturday was a good day, an early start on the 343 Los Cristianos to Puerto de la Cruz bus, saw us at La Paz lookout point for a swift walk down to Plaza Reyes Catolicos for the free “Noddy” train to  Loro Parque, just before midday. I had doubted my decision to go to Loro Parque on a Saturday, and expected us to have to wait for at least a couple of packed trains to go before we could get on, but a train was parked up and waiting for extra passengers, no sign of the usual queue snaking around the plaza.

Arriving at Loro Parque, we got in quick, again no queues, a worrying measure of the current tourism slump. The park was, as always, fantastic, well organised, great fun and packed with shows and animals to see. At the entrance they were giving out leaflets for Siam Park and there were adverts in the Loro Parque guide, all saying “coming soon” . Before the Orca whale show, the giant screen showed an advert for Siam Park, and it flashed up the announcement “opening on September 16″ that is the day after the official inauguration. There has been no confirmation of this date for letting the public in, but dare we hope ? It would be nice.

After a great few hours at the park, we got the bus across to Santa Cruz for the evenings CD Tenerife v Natic Tarragona football match, the start of the Segunda Division (one below Real Madrid, Barcelona etc)  league campaign. The crowd was a little bit dissapointing at 10,882, considering the red hot form of CDT in the pre season friendlies, but the atmosphere, fuelled by a few pre match beers, was electric.

The first half was pretty awful, with both sides struggling to put any good moves together, but Tenerife were fortunate to get a penalty just before the half time whistle. Diop fouled Sicilia in the box and Nino stepped up to open, hopefully, another high scoring season for him. Nastic soon dampened the enthusiasm with an equaliser after the restart, Moises heading the leveller.

Worse was to come after 72 minutes as Arpon made it 2-1 for the visitors, this was not going to plan at all. We needed a hero and after 74 minutes, local lad Angel was brought on, the game was slipping away when he made it 2-2 with a well taken charge on the Nastic goal with just 5 minutes play left. The volume was cranked up and Angel had the crowd in heaven 2 minutes later, heading a winner, cue wild singing and dancing on the terraces, the phrase “get out of jail” comes to mind.

All in all, a fine day, a jolly trip back down south on the Armada Sur coach, and a few more beers, rounded off a perfect day, maybe this will be our season.

CD Tenerife were back on the island this weekend for 2 friendlies, and they were very impressive in winning both. Friday evening down at the Las Americas stadium they beat CD Marino, from 2 divisions below CDT, 2-0. Born again forward Cristo scored his second pre season goal and eye catching new boy Alfaro added the other. A decent workout, with the usual mass substitutions late on and a crowd of 800 or 1,200, depending on which paper you believe.

Sunday was expected to be the much sterner test,for the Teide Trophy, against Primera side Athletico Bilbao at La Orotava, they had won all their friendlies to date, including victories over Millwall and Charlton on a short English tour. The Armada Sur had a coach up, but with the extra distance, we powered past our usual TF1 motorway beer stop at the Oasis and broke the journey at a petrol station, with bar, near Los Rodeos, the north airport. I often wonder why they built an airport there, it always seems to suffer from very low cloud which nearly envelops the airport, and it’s chilly, many of us were  questioning the wisdom of wearing shorts.

After a few beers at a bar just down from the ground we paid out 15 euros (ouch) and went in. I went to a pre season game there last year, and it was immediately obvious that this was virtually a full house with fans taking every lofty vantage point and a large section of Bilbao fans. The Sur and the other main noisy peñas (fan clubs) took the far corner and started the usual songs and chants as we anticipated a tough match.

Tenerife came out like a steam train and were all over Bilbao, after 10 minutes an Alfaro corner found Nino, and the little striker did what he does best, popped it in the goal. CDT faded a bit as the first half went on and Bilboa tied the score with a Munoz goal. The second half saw Tenerife really take control, Kome floated the ball in from the left and Oscar Perez (pic) charged in to make it 2-1. Could it get any better? yep, Kome was again involved, shooting at goal and when it rebounded to Nino, he was lethal to make it 3-1.

Despite the local Guardia Civil standing down in front of us and trying to stare us out all game, the final whistle was the call for everyone to pile on to the pitch. The Teide Trophy was presented to Cristo Marrero, it looked like a large under arm deodorant, not sure what happened to the large flat landscape of Mount Teide that is normally presented. The players all mingled with fans on the pitch and posed for photos, before we all piled on the coach for the long trip back down south.

It seems like forever since my last fix of live football, well mid June to be precise, thankfully the wait is over and CD Tenerife have started on their pre season friendlies. This is a great time of year, all things are possible and all teams are equal, surely this will be our season for promotion and a good cup run.

Tenerife always have to wheel and deal carefully in the transfer market, no big money signings for us, the club are chipping away at their debt, it stood at 44.9 million euros in December 2005 and is expected to drop below 30 million by the end of this year. Some new faces have been brought in, 2 new goalies and some new forwards to help our free scoring hero, Nino (pic) as he hopefully continues to bang in the goals.

In keeping with tradition, Tenerife have started with a training camp and some light friendlies over on La Palma, their first competitive game was a 0-0 draw on Sunday against Tijarafe. This weekend sees a flurry of activity, with a Friday evening game, kick off 8.30pm, at CD Marino, the Las Americas ground that many visitors think is our home. This will be a chance to try all the squad out, everyone will get a run out, even Gladys the tea lady will probably get on for the last 5 minutes.

Sunday will be a much sterner test, Athletico Bilbao from the Primera, are the visitors for an 8.30pm game at La Orotava, the pre season games tend to be spread around, a good chance for the smaller teams to get a much needed boost in gate money, and as the home pitch at the Santa Cruz Heliodoro has just been re-laid, it will give it time to settle. For the first time I can remember, the Armada Sur will be running a coach to a pre season game, our Canarian friends from the Frente Blanquiazul also have a coach up, so we will be meeting up for a pre match aperitif or 2.

Next Thursday CDT fly to the mainland to play Real Valladolid and back in time for a Sunday game against Universidad Las Palmas at La Laguna. At last on Saturday August 23, we get a chance to pile back into our home stadium with the visit of Dutch Premier team Roda J C , that should be a real treat and a good test before the Segunda Division league programme kicks off on Sunday August 31at home to Nastic.

I’m all ready, my season ticket is on order and i have even washed my scarf. No doubt it will be another roller coaster season with the 2 derby games against the Pios of Las Palmas, engraved on our hearts for November 23 away and April 26 at home. Vamos Tenerife !

It must be a good sign that big companies are ready and willing to plough large sums of money into Tenerife developments, I wonder if they allow a few extra months as standard for delays here, or do they have supreme faith, only to end up pulling their hair out with the rest of us.

Yesterday I went to see the new Tenerife Top Training sports centre just above La Caleta, according to the website, open in June. I trekked up the hill at the side of Golf Costa Adeje, into a heartland of building sites for various projects. Director Carlos Paulsen gave me a thorough guided tour of the site, with our hard hats on, and although the main parts are finished, there is still a lot of work to do before the late August opening of the doors to the public.

The 2 outdoor pools and surrounding area are not only finished but have the lane dividers and blocks in place. The main pool is the Olympic size 50 metres, and the other is half that size, down below, indoors is a therapy and training pool where cameras film swimmers going against a water flow, treadmill style, to be analysed for state of the art bio mechanics.

The football pitches are floodlit, one is grass and the other artificial, they look about ready, but the walkways down to them are a bit of an assault course at the moment, until all the cement work is done. Inside the main building, there are various gyms, changing rooms and physio facilities. It looks good, i just hope they can complete it pretty quick, we don’t need another Siam Park type delay. For a more detailed report, see www.discovercostaadeje.com another of the Sorted Sites commercial websites I copy write for.

As I was in the area, I decided it was time for another visit to the fishing village of La Caleta. It’s a very lovely place where a range of tasty fish reataurants hug the coastline, and large slabs of eroded rock form great surfaces for sun bathing, and launch points into the sea, if you choose not to use the metal ladders provided.

To the west a prominent point has a very enticing pathway leading over to the next bay, I will try that one some time. I have been just off shore there on a boat trip and it looked pretty deserted, but i’m told it is a haven for hippies and nudists, or even nude hippies. La Caleta seemed very quiet, it was 1pm by now but hardly any of the little bars and restaurants had customers, seems a shame seeing the huge 4 and 5 star hotels further to the east, are usually bulging, but I suppose they are all inclusive and seldom venture out of the gardens. It must be particularly cruel if these small family business’s are struggling to survive with all the wealth and oppulence swilling about a short hop away.

The worst sight of my trip was the state of the Playa de la Enramada, former home to the Chirinquito beach bar and chill out area. I knew they were demolishing the bar and “improving” the stretch of beach, but it looks like a war zone at the moment with huge hills of sand and JCB’s ploughing up and down. We can only hope that the finished product isn’t a complete mess.