VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — This weekend is the pearl anniversary for the North American Sand Soccer Championships at the Oceanfront as more than 800 professional and amateur teams will take over the beach from 6th Street to 33rd Street.

“Our event will bring about 100,000 people between Friday and Sunday,” said Lauren Bland, Hampton Roads Soccer Complex executive director. “This is verifiable attendance that we track through surveys and economic impact data. We look at our hotel pickup reports, [and] our team registrations — 77% of people that came to our event live outside of Virginia Beach. Our event generates between $14 million and $15 million in economic impact every year, [it] fills the hotels over 8,000 room nights. Restaurants are packed. The boardwalk is busy. A lot of folks consider this weekend kind of the kickoff to summer in Virginia Beach.”

The championship games are rain or shine. 

“You see 66 fields of soccer playing,” Bland said. “These folks could choose to play in any other tournament, they could be doing anything else, but they’re choosing to come invest in our city and in our event, spend their money, fill our hotels and ultimately, all the proceeds from the event come back to the Hampton Road Soccer Complex.

“We do sports nearly 365 days a year, and it helps us with capital improvement projects and renovations. We rely on funds from team registration fees, sponsorships, hotels, merchandise at the events.”

The Ramada Plaza by Wyndham on 28th Street is one of the primary hotels, with the main stage and VIP tents are directly behind the hotel.

“It fills up bars [and] hotels more than any other event here because sand soccer, rain or shine, it’s going to be busy,” said Hardeep Singh, general manager of the Ramada Plaza by Wyndham. “Year-on-year, we already know we’re going to get full of sand soccer. The whole hotel is blocked for them.”

The boardwalk will be filled with vendors and DJs will be at the stages. 

“We partner with Beach Events,” Bland said. “We put Latin music and family-appropriate concerts in 17th and 24th Street parks. We also have street soccer live on Atlantic and then we also have over 70 boardwalk displays.

“Our event is super upbeat and friendly. Everybody’s welcome. You don’t even have to be good at soccer. You don’t even have to like soccer. Just come down, enjoy the music. It’s free. Enjoy the foods, the sights and the sounds.”

The event is free and open to the public for the entire event, and Bland is hoping for good weather throughout.

“Come down, check us out, enjoy some food, see our vendors,” Bland said, “and watch some of the best sand soccer in the world.”

More information

For more information on the North American Sand Soccer Championships, which takes place from Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 9 at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, please visit www.sandsoccer.com.