Virginia Beach - One of the nation’s largest sports festivals of the coming summer kicks off June 9th on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The “North American Sand Soccer Championships (NASSC)”, with a player/fan base of over 25,000, returns to the resort strip for the huge tournament’s 13th annual edition. NASSC is routinely featured by the Southeast Tourism Society (STS) as one of its “Top 20” summer events and has been ranked as one of the best 100 free tourist venues in the United States. The giant charity sports festival has hosted 50,000 players since its 1994 inception. Fox Sports produced a feature presentation of the 2005 festival and what has been termed the “Grand Prix” of world amateur and pro/am sand blasts.

Sand warriors in all skill levels (novice through pro, ages 9 thru adult), will be battling 5-on-5 on 50 sand fields along a mile and a quarter of seacoast city blocks, adjacent to the famous Virginia Beach Boardwalk. The tournament’s new location in 2006 is situated between 16th and 33rd streets, in the heart of the tourist mecca.

It will be “Salsa on the Sand” at the men’s “U.S. OPEN”, where twelve top pro/am teams will battle for cash in a beach stadium at 24th Street, surrounded by the sights and sounds, food, and fun of “Latin Fest” nearby. Several members of the U.S. national beach soccer team will be in action and U.S. National Team scouts will be on hand to evaluate U.S. OPEN players for the second “FIFA World Cup of Beach Soccer” scheduled for November in Brazil.

While the focus on NASSC remains beach soccer, additional beach sports offerings will add excitement to the tournament’s festival atmosphere. Wrestling will make its debut at NASSC ’06 with the arrival of the “North American Beach Wrestling Championship”, featuring youth and adult male and female competition in a large wresting pit on the sand. “Beach Tennis USA”, “Beach Kickball”, “Beach COED Flag Football” and Beach Footvolley will return with a wide variety competition formats and opportunities for all comers to try out these emerging fun-in-the-sun sports. Also returning is a Friday evening “Kid’s Youth Sand Soccer Clinic”, where participants can meet professional beach soccer athletes, enjoy a skills clinic and receive valuable tips and souvenirs prior to the start of amateur competition on June 10.

NASSC is produced annually by the Hampton Roads Soccer Council to support the continuing development of its 75-acre Soccer Complex and is open to the public at no charge. Details may be found by visiting www.sandsoccer.com. Information: 757-368-4600.