Beach meets alps

HISTORY

(Foreword from the anniversary book (only in German): 20 Jahre Gstaader Beachgeschichten, Mägi Kunz-Schläfli)

Admittedly, the idea of hosting a beach volleyball tournament in the mountains during the 1990s was a bit crazy. At that time, beach volleyball was still a relatively unknown sport in Switzerland. The later internationally renowned Laciga brothers and the Heuscher-Kobel team were just at the beginning of their careers. It was the era when the first permanent beach volleyball courts started appearing near urban sports facilities.

In the mountains, however, sand sports were still far from being established. Nevertheless, the idea had taken root in a few Gstaad locals’ minds, and the Beach Volleyball Gstaad association was quickly founded. The date for the first tournament was also set—it was scheduled to take place from July 20 to 23, 1995. Roland Hofmann shared details of the planned event in an interview with the Anzeiger von Saanen on September 23, 1994. Ultimately, however, this first attempt failed due to a lack of funding and resources.
 

But they didn’t give up so easily—instead, they continued to believe in the potential of beach sports in the mountains. On September 23, 1999, Ruedi Kunz called a meeting to launch a second attempt. At this meeting, decisive steps were taken, and things began to move quickly. By November 1, 1999, Sport Events Gstaad GmbH was founded. The aim was to make use of the infrastructure from Gstaad’s historic tennis tournament a second time by hosting a top-level beach volleyball tournament. However, there were still several hurdles to overcome before the first event could actually take place.
 

But first, the good news: the international volleyball federation FIVB confirmed its commitment to the tournament, and it was officially added to the 2000 tournament calendar. However, contracts with the local municipality, TV broadcasters, and various sponsors couldn’t be finalized at such short notice. To ensure that this second attempt wouldn’t fail due to financial constraints, Ruedi Kunz made a bold move—he sold his IT company and thereby secured part of the funding.

Next, it was crucial to actively approach potential sponsors. The tournament dossier landed on the right desk at SUVA—that of Mägi Schläfli. Thanks to her, the event has been able to count on SUVA as a reliable partner since its very first edition. It’s also worth noting that Mägi Schläfli is now known as Mägi Kunz-Schläfli and that she and Ruedi Kunz now share the joy of raising two nearly grown children together.
 

We are still in the early founding days of the beach volleyball tournament in Gstaad. Early on, the tournament secured a web domain, rented a P.O. box, and opened its official office. The following excerpt from a report by a founding member shows just how close the 2000 tournament came to not happening at all:

"After the first attempt to hold a tournament in 1995, the situation at the end of February 2000 resembled that of December 1994. No sponsorship contracts had been signed, and TV coverage could not be guaranteed. At a very tense organizing committee meeting on January 19, three deadlines were set. By February 28, two of the three deadlines had passed without meeting their objectives. Since the construction division was facing major expenses for ordering sand and contracting third parties, I was—fully aware that there was no money—not willing to continue my work on the committee or as head of construction. However, all preparatory work and knowledge would remain fully available."

It was the end of February 2000. There were exactly four months left until the first beach volleyball tournament in Gstaad was set to take place. Since volleyball was part of the prevention campaign “Dänk a Glänk”, SUVA agreed to support the event. However, the insurance company made it a condition that the planned campaign be launched both at the beach tournament and during the subsequent tennis tournament.

So, I packed my documents in Lucerne and set off for Gstaad to get a firsthand look at the location.

I remember that trip as if it were yesterday. I made a stop in Schönried at the parking lot of Hotel Kernen to check the road map and make sure I was still on the right route. I still felt the long drive through the Simmental in my bones and couldn’t imagine how anyone could live in such a remote place. When I arrived in Gstaad, Ruedi Kunz gave me a tour of the beach volleyball office and showed me the ice rink area where the tournament was supposed to take place the following summer. Since the snow was still several meters deep, I simply could not picture how this site would become a beach volleyball mecca just a few months later.

It took all my imagination—and even that wasn’t quite enough—to envision the event. The location itself didn’t immediately win me over due to the circumstances. What truly impressed me were the helpful and committed people behind the tournament. To be honest, these wonderful people from the Saanenland had no real knowledge of beach volleyball as a sport—but that’s where I could step in: due to an injury, I had recently been forced to end my active beach volleyball career shortly before my visit to Gstaad.

Since it was clear that the organizing committee welcomed my support, I spontaneously decided to contribute in a supporting role to help realize a professional event. I gladly accepted the challenge and began traveling to Gstaad every free weekend to help organize the first Women's Beach World Tour—working alongside the two newly hired administrators and a small group of committee members under the leadership of Ruedi Kunz.
 

The roughly 350-page FIVB handbook became our daily and nightly reading material from that moment on. It accompanied us through many late-night shifts in the beloved beach hut on Lauenenstrasse. Not only were we caught up in the beach volleyball fever, but we also quickly infected all our friends, acquaintances, and distant relatives from near and far. We called on them to help us in any way they could, either before or during the tournament.

In the first year, due to the short notice of the event, we had so few helpers that we even approached the spectators. Whenever we spotted a familiar face in the crowd, we would quickly pull that person down from the stands. This happened whenever a personnel shortage became apparent in any department. Suddenly, our colleagues found themselves acting as line judges on the court, working behind food stands, or wearing an earpiece at the entrance control of the stands. Even the sponsors were not spared from lending a hand.

In the first year, since we played on two courts on the ice rink area in front of the wooden stands, we had to convert the center court into a single court for the final on the night from Saturday to Sunday. Every famous guest picked up a shovel as they left the sponsors’ evening and helped with the court transformation. This was the beginning of a unique beach volleyball community that lives by the motto “one team – one spirit.” From this spirit, many friendships, loyal helpers, and organizing committee members have emerged—the tournament’s most valuable asset.

This spirit impressed and deeply moved me, and it’s what continues to drive the entire organizing committee to put together a perfect tournament every year. Because of that shovel operation at the very first beach tournament, you can imagine why we jokingly ask our interns during interviews: “Can you shovel?”

Of course, in the early years, there were also critical voices from people who couldn’t imagine a beach volleyball tournament in the mountains. Many locals remained skeptical at the time. Not only that, but the sand—which had been specially transported from abroad to Gstaad—was highly coveted. During the first tournament, we often observed how, after dark, local people would drive a Suzuki 4x4 to the Wispile parking lot, where the side courts were set up. They would get out and touch the sand. Some were so bold as to fill plastic buckets and similar containers with sand and quietly take it home.

After the tournament, a striking number of sandboxes in the gardens of the charming chalets were filled to the brim with real sea sand from France. However, the locals’ skepticism soon turned into enthusiasm. Today, they help every year as organizing committee members, volunteers, and partners to ensure the event’s success.

In the beginning, it was also a challenge for the players to compete in the mountains, as it was unfamiliar to them. The sea was missing, and the sometimes chilly morning temperatures came as a surprise. What impresses them most to this day is the family-like atmosphere in a manageable, charming town with geraniums on the balconies. Almost everything is within walking distance. Especially the fact that players can stroll from their hotels to the courts made the tournament truly special for them. For this reason, the Gstaad Major has become a favorite tournament on the tour for many players over the last 20 years. They are so fascinated that they sometimes travel with their entire families.

I still wonder what thoughts went through the mind of the Brazilian Olympic medalist from 1996 when she saw the freshly snow-covered mountains on the final Sunday in 2000. We could only guess when she insisted on a warming foot bath in the timeout area. Unfortunately, there was no clause about foot baths in the handbook, so we had no suitable basins on hand. A spontaneous decision was made to use the trash bin from the info booth instead. We only realized that the info booth helpers had been treated to delicious cherries from the Basel region the day before when the chilled player was already warming her feet in the cozy, purplish-red “cherry stone foot bath.” Fortunately, the sun soon took over the warming function itself, heating not only the sand but also the players’ feet and the hearts of the spectators, the organizing committee, and the helpers.

Even the very young ones enjoyed the oversized sandbox and took full advantage of it, digging holes in the sand or building sandcastles without being asked. The only person who was no longer pleased was the referee when he noticed that the tournament’s youngest ball girl, only six years old, was digging a big hole behind his chair and doing somersaults instead of handing over the balls. At the final meeting, he didn’t hold back his criticism and demanded that from the next year on, we try using slightly older ball kids.

At this very first tournament, there was a parade through the Gstaad promenade. For all the player teams on the tour, it was a premiere to march through the village accompanied by the “Saanen-Gibeni” and the children’s yodeling choir. Also making their debut were the now indispensable and highly sought-after cowbells, which are considered a fitting replacement for the usual trophies for the players.

The entire organizing committee, the volunteers, the partners, and the local community were overjoyed and proud of the first tournament, which had been organized with so much passion and dedication.

Because it is said, "After the tournament is before the tournament," preparations for the next edition were already underway shortly afterward. That we are able to hold the twentieth tournament this year is thanks above all to our tournament director and my husband, Ruedi Kunz. He believed in the tournament every minute, never gave up, invested a lot of passion, stood up against all obstacles, and tried to remove every stone—sometimes they were boulders—from the path.

At all times, he showed incredible optimism, was a motivator, a fighter, and a visionary, and as the crowning achievement, he brought the 2007 World Championship to Gstaad. What Ruedi Kunz, together with his beach volleyball organizing committee and many helpers, has achieved from an initially small but fine women's tournament, you can read on the following pages. Smiles and amazement are allowed.