Eight courts are featured at the Port Elgin Main Beach for the 2017 volleyball season. Courts 7 and 8 on the north side of the beach will only be set up Monday through Wednesday an hour before and after league play. League play runs from 6:30 p.m. until dusk.

Hub Staff

A new agreement between the Town of Saugeen Shores and Social Athletics of Saugeen Shores (SASS) for the 2017 beach volleyball summer season was approved by Council during the March 13 Committee of the Whole. A new location for four courts and an agreement to only have nets on the north side (courts 7 and 8 near the harbour) set up during league play from 6:30 p.m. to dusk were included in the agreement.

A new zone for four courts (courts 1 to 4) was implemented on the south side of the Port Elgin Main Beach public washrooms which had been levelled out a by town staff in the fall of 2016.

Since the initial year, SASS has grown to include over 450 members. Club members drive to Saugeen Shores from Kincardine, Cape Croker, Wiarton, Owen Sound, Tara, and Chesley to play in the beach leagues. According to the staff report the club estimates that at least 25 percent of players do not live in Saugeen Shores.

League play commences in June and runs through to the last week of August. The league operates Monday to Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to dusk, for recreational, intermediate and competitive play. Additionally, it hosts two largely attended summer tournaments. For courts 1 to 6, the nets can be left up per SASS’s discretion, when not being used for League play.

Director of Community Services, Jayne Jagelewski said the sum that SASS pays for the beach space has gone up from $2,000 to $3,200, which will go to the Waterfront Reserve, to better recognize the value of this public space.

Councillor Neil Menage wanted a revision to the agreement for courts 7 and 8 to include nets being put up only an hour before league play.

Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau supported the minor revision proposed by Menage and said he was a supporter of SASS and their activities. Charbonneau said he believed that once the agreement was completed and approved by Council that it should be shared with police services as he said they had been involved on occasion concerning “angst” between beach goers, cottagers and volleyball net users (SASS members and non SASS members use the nets) due to limited beach space as a result of high water levels.