John Gontier - page 2

Gibraltar Wave has kick started International participation of Gibraltar in Beach Soccer

Beach Soccer, the Energetic Generation Z  lifestyle sport is the “modern” version of Football and Gibraltar Wave is proud of being the first club in the history of Gibraltar in participating in Euro Winners Cup, the UEFA Beach Soccer Champìons League.

The Women’s Euro Winners Cup 2022 was a spectacular continental club competition contested between top-division European women’s teams; the clubs that are their country’s national league/cup champions and some specially invited club. This Championship organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), is viewed as UEFA Beach Soccer Women’s Champions League, Offering the strongest level of club competition on the old continent, it is the most prestigious women’s club beach soccer championship in Europe; the winners become continental champions.

The seventh edition which took place from the 6th to the 12th of June on the beautiful beach of Nazare in Portugal. All the matches, including all of Gibraltar Wave’s were broadcast live on an excellent new type Sport TV platform, Recast. In fact it was Gibraltar Wave that introduced the organisors of the tournament, BSWW, to the Recast platform which is a new way for sports fans to watch football where you gain credit/Points watching adverts that you can use to watch live sports.

The event began with a round robin group stage. At its conclusion, the best teams progressed to the knockout stage, a series of single elimination games to determine the winners, starting with the quarter-finals and ending with the final. Consolation matches were also played to determine other final rankings.

17 women clubs from ten different nations entered the event. In accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, clubs from Russia were banned from entering.

Gibraltar Wave FC has the historical honour of being the first even Gibraltar club to take part in a sport that is only bound to grow exponentially in the next few years, a sport at which, with the right backing of the GFA, the Gibraltar government’s sports Ministry and brands to sponsor can take Gibraltar to the very top in this sport.

Gibraltar Wave had the further honor of playing the first match in the spectacular stadium on the beach in Nazare, Portugal against Terrassa-Bonaire BSW  the eventual winners of the tournament. This tough baptism came in really good as a learning curve which we hope will not only serve good for Gibraltar Wave but for Gibraltar as a whole.

Gibraltar Wave ended 15th out of the 17 teams that took part. Gibraltar Wave, being an all inclusive club from day one also had the honour of having both the youngest and the most veteran players of the whole tournament of 50 clubs from across all of Europe!

Sports Fans, please download our app https://www.gibraltarwavefc.com/news/get_our_new_wave-app/ and get in touch to start playing this wonderful energetic lifestyle sport. Also calling on forward thinking brands to also get in touch and get involved in this soon to be Olympic sport which has already been admitted at The 3rd European Games informally known as Kraków Małopolska 2023 in Poland whose

Opening Ceremony is on 21 June and Closing Ceremony on 2nd July 2023.

All is set for the biggest women`s Beach Soccer event in Europe and the world, the Euro Winners Cup to kick off in Nazaré, Portugal. The  seventh edition, will begin on Monday 6 June and end on Sunday 12, comprised of three Round Robin matchdays (6, 7 and 8 June) and followed by a knockout stage, and the final being played on Sunday 12 June. 

Gibraltar Wave FC is the first Gibraltar club to participate in this world class tournament which we hope will spur not just football players but all sportsmen and women in Gibraltar to take up this sport as a way of keeping healthy in this wonderful lifestyle sport.

This is the One sport in which Gibraltar can, in the near future, be one of the top nations. Beach Soccer is on the verge of taking off as one of the most spectacular sport in the world. 

Beach soccer returns to the European Games after proving to be a very popular sport at both editions Baku 2015 and Minsk 2019. In 2023, football fans worldwide will have the opportunity to experience all Beach Soccer has to offer, including top-class competition and a fantastic atmosphere. 

President of Beach Soccer Worldwide Joan Cusco (ESP) said: “It’s great to see beach soccer occupying such an important place at the European Games. We are honoured to be a part of the Olympic family and to have the opportunity to feature in an event as prestigious as the European Games is something that makes us very proud. We received a lot of positive feedback during and after the Games in 2019, and we are really thrilled to have the opportunity to stage another amazing spectacle and showcase what beach soccer is all about.” 

The third edition of the European Games is set to take place in Kraków and the regions of Małopolska and Śląsk in Poland from 21 June to 2 July 2023. 

The European Games in 2023 will be an important stepping-stone for the growth of Beach Soccer worldwide and the experience that Lauren Parkes, Narges Mararat, Lauren Tomsett, Megan Garcia, Beverley Yee-Kwan Shing, Tiana Garcia-Tapper, young Julia Louise-Lima, Melissa Ann Mor, Kierra Manique Scalercio, Jennifer Alexandra Ramirez Araguas, Kelly McShane and the coaches Ernest Tomsett, Anthony Celecia and Sally Barton will get will be invaluable for the growth of Beach Soccer in Gibraltar. 

Now, on to you sporty fans, follow Euro Winners Cup, the UEFA Beach Soccer Champions League closely and #FireYourPassion for this spectacular sport and Gibraltar Wave FC:

Women’s Euro Winners Cup Teams for 2022 are:

Gibraltar Wave FC (GIB), Newteam Beach Soccer Brussels (BEL), SC Rappiranhas (SUI), Kylävainion Päällikot (FIN), Bavaria Beach Bazis (GER), CSO Amnéville BS (FRA), Marseille Beach Team (FRA), Beach Soccer Zeeland (NED), AIS San Javier (ESP), Higicontrol (ESP), Cáceres Playa (ESP), Terrassa Bonaire BSC (ESP), CD Futbol Playa Huelva (ESP), ACD O Sótão (POR), AD Pastéis (POR), Associação Desportiva “Nazaré 2022” (POR), FC10 Ladies (POL) are the teams taking part.

See you all on the surface most associate with paradise and stay tuned here in Gibraltar Insight for the July issue on our experience at the UEFA Beach Soccer Champions League.

Join us on our journey. 

The countdown to Euro Winners cup, Effectively UEFA Womens Beach soccer champions league, starts now!

As footy fans know, the Gibraltar Futsal League is on and running with Gibraltar Wave preferring to increase the number of female players to help develop the game in Gibraltar by having two teams, Gibraltar Wave Blue and Gibraltar Wave Yellow thus sacrificing having one strong team proving that at this moment our mission is to expand the league and increase participation to merely winning.

The Gibraltar Futsal League is also coming good and handy in our preparation for Euro Winners Cup which will celebrate its seventh edition in 2022. The tournament will begin on  Monday 6 June and end on Sunday 12, comprised of three Round Robin matchdays (6, 7 and 8 June) and followed by a knockout stage, and the final being played on Sunday 12 June. More information can be found online at www.beachsoccer.com.

Beach Soccer is a spectacular newly Olympic sport that most contributes to a healthy body and mind due to its energetic characteristic and played on a surface associated with paradise, holiday and relax. It is also the cheapest sport to play as it’s played barefoot while the bonus comes in the way of a foot massage while playing! 

Gibraltar Wave is determined to contribute in helping to grow and embrace beach soccer in Gibraltar. Our dream is to collaborate closely with the GFA to help grow this sport which can truly put Gibraltar on the sports map and also to make Gibraltar a regular international events venue in the near future. We know that  Beach Soccer Worldwide are very willing to help and collaborate in enabling Gibraltar participants to be yielded with the right opportunity to develop an awareness of both practical and theoretical demands of how beach soccer can be developed.

Beach Soccer brings value, colour, spectacle to football`s younger market, not just in Gibraltar and Europe but worldwide. It adds a refreshing new passion avenue enticing the younger Generation Z fans. We truly feel Beach Soccer offers a different marketing approach to football adding value and fan engagement. Hopefully this can also make new brands needing market exposure in sports come onboard.  

Gibraltar Wave has been approached by players from as far away as America wanting the chance to come and play in Euro Winners and Chesterfield women FC are sending two players as the first step to closer collaboration with Gibraltar Wave with a view to becoming a sister club.

We hope Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation show our matches at the Euro Winners live and that all sports fans in Gibraltar watch and follow the tournament. Lets shoot for the moon with our great coaches Ernest Tomsett and Anthony Celecia leading the way.

Gibraltar Wave FC offers a variety of sponsorship opportunities. Fans can download our apps on Google Play and Apple App Store. 

Join us on our journey.

It’s hard enough to start a football team from scratch, it’s even harder to do in the middle of a Global pandemic. But that is what John Gontier did, when he executed his plan for the first women only football team in Gibraltars known history. Now, this couldnt have been done without the much help starting with player recruitment by the players themselves, especially Lauren Tomsett and Amanda Jackson along with our current coaches Ernest Tomsett and Anthony Celecia not forgetting all others who have contributed to our making.

With the desire to unite the female community and serve Gibraltar. Gibraltar Wave is committed to positively impact and develop women`s football, empower women, and build community through this beautiful game. Gibraltar Wave is not only Where girls are encouraged to play the game, but they are also given the platform to thrive and to perform with much assistance from all concerned at the Gibraltar FA. We believe the game we love has the power to be a force for good.

This community feel was felt from day one and was dedicated to paving the way for women of Gibraltar to have a wider avenue for a healthier lifestyle for body and mind through sports. Gontier had the challenge of not taking a single player from any of the other four teams in the women’s league but to work on bringing back and bringing new players to women`s football. The goal is to develop women’s football on the Rock, not delude the product by taking players from the other teams. The current 24 players in the team are either completely new to football or have not played football for a few years. 

The team took a step by step approach to it’s creation. The first was to make it’s debut as a Futsal team and then grow into the team that we all know as the Gibraltar Wave FC. 

The team had some success in it’s inaugural Women’s League season as well as in its first futsal season but especially made a splash at Beach Soccer where the family and fun feel of the club helped win its first trophy in it’s short history winning the only Beach Soccer Charity Tournament. 

Gibraltar Wave has been approached by so many girls and women wanting to join that rather than making one strong team for the recently started futsal league, we have decided to continue giving chances introducing new players to football by registered two teams, Gibraltar Wave Blue and Gibraltar Wave Yellow.

As a result of winning the The Beach Soccer Charity Tournament the team has been invited to participate in the Euro Winners Cup the UEFA Champions League of Beach Soccer taking place in in June 2022 in Nazare Portugal and broadcast to a worldwide audience.

Beach Soccer is a spectacular newly Olympic sport that most contributes to a healthy body and mind due to its energetic characteristic and played on a surface associated with paradise, holiday and relax. It is also the cheapest sport to play as it’s played barefoot while the bonus comes in the way of a foot massage while playing!

Gibraltar can take advantage of it`s Eastern and Sandy Bay beaches plus the good weather to work at becoming one of the top nations at Beach Soccer. Also, Gibraltar can be a great venue for top events as it`s probably the only place on earth where you can go from the airport to the hotels, beaches, stadium, shops and even a nature reserve all on foot. This is of great convenience and saves logistic costs and headache.

Football and especially Beach Soccer isn’t just a game. It’s part of life, it’s part of growing the community. 

The most difficult task has been to get sponsors on board. Softi Wellness Gummies and http://peak-mockgbr.biz/ along with blocksport.io who are building a wonderful App for the club are kindly contributing to our growth as well as the moral support of Eco Wave Power who are producing electricity from Waves here in Gibraltar. To be able to take the girls to the UEFA Beach Soccer Champions League, we do need good brands to get involved. 

Join us on our journey.