Some of the young guns of English water polo dived into Nantwich Outdoor Pool in Cheshire, England, on Saturday for the MANUP! Junior Edition festival of open-air water polo.

The festival was the first in a series of three unique open-air events being run by MANUP! Water Polo this year. Packaworld is sponsoring the series by providing portable Water Polo Packagoals for all matches.

MANUP! Water Polo Co-founder Craig Stowell said the Nantwich event attracted 10 teams from across England with players aged 15 and under. Liverpool-based Bridgefield Water Polo Club finished in first place, beating City of Sheffield Water Polo Club in a hard-fought final.

“It was a great day out and a real showcase of the talented young players that are emerging in England," he said.

Portable courts making bocce ball more accessible around the world were used last week to host the next generation of bocce ball stars at the Special Olympics Ontario Invitational Youth Games in Canada.

More than 2,000 student athletes from around the world descended on Toronto for the four-day event, which ran from 14-17 May.

The bocce ball competition was held at the University of Toronto’s St George Campus, where more than 240 young athletes competed for gold on 10 inflatable Packabocce courts.

The innovative courts feature a lightweight but durable design that makes them easier to transport, set up and store than bocce ball courts made out of wood or PVC piping.

A blind Hamilton man is on a mission to grow the sport of goalball, aided by a world-first inflatable goal developed by innovative sports gear company Packaworld International.

Steve Donnelly is the captain of Waikato Goalball Club and well known within the blind and low vision community for his sporting exploits as a New Zealand BlindCaps cricket player.

The 47-year old is keen to raise awareness of goalball – a popular sport at the Paralympics – but has struggled to introduce people to the sport because of a lack of local facilities with goals.

But that is about to change. Waikato Goalball Club received a boost on Saturday when they used the new Goalball Packagoals for the first time at one of their training sessions at Melville Community Hall in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Dubai has emerged victorious in the United Arab Emirates' first ever international beach water polo tournament.

The pioneering event, hosted by the Dubai Camels Water Polo Club on 3-4 May, attracted hundreds of players and spectators to the sparkling waters off Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah artificial island. Six teams from the Middle East and as far away as Afghanistan competed over two days using an inflatable water polo field and goals provided by portable sports equipment provider Packaworld International.

Organiser and President of Dubai Camels Water Polo Club Peter Burger  said the event was the first of its kind in the UAE and was designed as a pilot for larger tournaments in the region in future. The home team from Dubai won the final on Saturday with a victory over fellow UAE team Abu Dhabi.

Young footballers in Waihi, New Zealand, kicked off for another year on Sunday when around 100 children and their parents made their way to Morgan Park for the first 2019 session of Waihi AFC’s Junior Football Programme.

This year’s programme has an expanded age bracket, allowing for older children to take part. Age groups range from 4-14 for both girls and boys, and each session includes skills drills and fun games, followed by a match.

Programme organiser Richard James said he was thrilled with the turnout and was looking forward to another successful year. New portable Youth Packagoals from Packaworld International were helping the programme to grow, he said.

Match days against other local clubs were being planned throughout the season, in addition to the regular Sunday sessions at Morgan Park, to give your players a chance to test their skills against others in the region.

Picture a luxury golf resort set amongst sweeping beaches, tidal rivers, and wetlands teeming with wildlife. The surrounds at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina might just be the most stunning setting for bocce ball anywhere in the United States.

The world-class resort is one of a select few that run bocce-themed team building events for corporates. Each event is played on portable Packabocce courts laid out on the resort’s Terrace Lawn, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Referees are on hand to explain the rules to participants, who compete in teams across multiple courts while enjoying delicious food and plenty of liquid refreshments.

“It’s a simple game to run but people have a great time,” says Jonathan Thompson, Recreation Program Manager at the resort.

It will soon be easier than ever before for Australians to get hold of high-quality portable sports equipment, thanks to an agreement between Packaworld International and Sydney warehousing and logistics business ACR Supply Partners.

The agreement will see Packaworld products stored on-shore in Sydney and shipped to Australian addresses direct from the ACR Supply Partners’ warehouse. As a result, shipping costs for Australians will be lower and delivery will be quicker.

“We’re on a mission to help bring the joy of sport to the more people,” says Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts.

“The past year has seen an increase in sales and interest in what we are doing, especially in the sport of water polo, so we’ve decided to make a bigger commitment to Australia. Storing our products in-country will make it easier than ever for Australian sports organisations, clubs and families to buy portable Packaworld sports equipment.”

Packaworld was on show at Nelson Bay in Port Stephens, New South Wales this past weekend, with its inflatable water polo goals, fields and signage helping to make the final Beach Water Polo Fours event of the 2018/2019 season a success.

The event, which ran over two days, was attended by Packaworld Chief Executive Pete Roberts, who got involved in the Open Men’s Competition on the second day, donning a pair of hot pink budgie smugglers for the occasion.

“Everyone was having an absolute blast. Beach water polo is as much fun for the spectators as it is for the players – and it’s a lot of fun for the players!”

It wasn’t only players and spectators taking to the water during the event, with dolphins and pelicans adding to the thrill.