International beach water polo comes to Dubai

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.

“The quality of water polo was outstanding and there were some incredibly hard-fought games,” Mr Burger said.

“We were fortunate to have a fantastic set up and great support from sponsors – the Packaworld fields, goals and floating advertising hoardings transformed the venue into an absolute dream location for water polo.”

Mr Burger  was thrilled the event had gone without a hitch after the original tournament, scheduled for February, had to be postponed because of an unseasonal influx of blue blubber jellyfish in the Persian Gulf. The jellyfish had dropped in numbers more recently, but the organisers took no chances for the recent tournament, surrounding the inflatable fields with jellyfish nets for the event’s duration.

“The unpredictability of the ocean is part of what makes beach water polo so special. We usually welcome a bit of wildlife, but the blue blubber jellyfish are a bit of an exception,” Mr Wallace joked.

The Dubai tournament was run with the co-operation of UAE Dubai Sports Council, which is exploring the possibility of supporting monthly water polo events on Dubai’s waterfront, as well as potential international matches, Mr Burger said.

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said it was satisfying to see Packaworld inflatable water polo fields, goals and floating advertising hoardings playing a part in bringing ocean water polo to a new location.

“We’ve been heavily involved in taking water polo to Australian and New Zealand beaches in recent years and it was a brilliant to see the sport growing further afield.

“Our solutions are all about bringing the joy of sport to more people, so it was fantastic to be able to support an event that has such potential to grow the game of water polo in the UAE.”

For more information about Packaworld water polo fields, goals and floating signage, visit our water polo and Packasign product pages >>

Video: Behind the scenes setting up the stunning Dubai water polo venue