Lausanne, Switzerland, March 14, 2011 – The FIVB is pleased to announce that Umag, Croatia has been confirmed as the official host of the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Youth World Championships.

The tournament, set to run from June 22-26, is now in its 10th year for boys and ninth year for girls and this is the first time the event, specifically designed for players under 19 years of age, will have visited the Mediterranean country. The Croatian capital, Zagreb, has hosted four FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour events from 2005-2008 which featured the same promoter Joe Basic.

The coastal city of Umag is located in the northwest of the country and is just 10km from the border with Slovenia. With a population of just over 7,000, the city thrives on tourism. "With the Youth World Championship now a decade old I am glad that the tournament is able to spread beach volleyball to new territories such as Umag," the president of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Commission, Dr Ary Graça, said.

"Its location in the heart of Europe means that it can be attended by many people and I have complete faith that the organising committee will deliver a spectacular competition, as well as the many players who are likely to be protagonists on the senior tour in years to come."

Last year's FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Youth World Championships took place in Porto, Portugal with Poland's Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak clinching the boys' title and USA's Jane Croson and Summer Ross taking the girls' crown.

"Croatia is, without a doubt, a brilliant location for this tournament," FIVB Beach Volleyball director Angelo Squeo added. "They have proved in the past that they are capable of putting on a top-quality event in Zagreb and I firmly believe that quality will be translated to the coast in Umag. It is an ideal setting and I'm sure fans and players alike will be happy with the backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea as they watch tomorrow's stars of the tour play at the top tournament in their age-range."

"We are very proud to have the opportunity to be able to host the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Youth World Championships in the beautiful city of Umag, Croatia," Basic, the MPG promoter for the event, said. "This opportunity will allow us to start a new development cycle for the sport of beach volleyball in Croatia, where we have the strong support of the City of Umag, the Tourist Board and our host venue, the beautiful hotel of Israturist. We welcome all fans to attend and participate where we will do our best to make this tournament truly enjoyable and memorable for all."
 
Registration for the tournament is already open.