A group of kids from Rugby club The Hookers, who went to Ameland beach as supporters. What a disappointment that they were not allowed to play rugby on that beach themselves. Then we do it ourselves thought Rebekka Mostert, Greet van der Tempel, Ron Groeneweg, Joke Winters and Yvonne de Water in October 2004 and thanks to them the first Youth Beach Rugby Tournament was held in May 2005.
In 2006, the tournament was almost blown over and the venue was moved because of a storm. In 2008 we moved to the sports beach in Hoek van Holland. The U12’s made their appearance and the tournament was expanded to 2 days. Clubs started to see the tournament as a nice tour to end the season with. Special in 2008 was the breakfast at the flood line. A long breakfast table for 500 rugby players and supervisors. It was windless, fortunately. In that year, the number of teams grew to 45.
In the following years, the tournament grew further still. The rugby field was transformed into a camping pitch and in 2010 the U8 and U10 also made their appearance with a one-day tournament. In 2019, the 1st day of the tournament was unfortunately cancelled. A heavy storm prevented rugby on the beach. For the first time in history, it was not possible to play rugby at all on the first day of our tournament.
Fortunately, the organization was able to offer an alternative program and the tournament could continue on the 2nd day. Due to the Corona pandemic, we were unfortunately unable to go to the beach for our youth beach tournament in 2020 and 2021. Meanwhile, the tournament with more than 100 teams has grown into one of the largest youth beach rugby tournaments in the Netherlands. What remains is the sporting battle, the cozy atmosphere and a lot of fun, on the field and off it. Thanks to the many volunteers, but above all thanks to all those enthusiastic rugby players and their supervisors.