"IT'S going to be as busy down here as Christmas and Easter but with beautiful young people instead of Santa hats and kites." That was the view of one volunteer at Horseshoe Bay this week, clearly revelling in their close-up view of events taking place at the famous beach.

A trip down to the postcard-perfect pink sands this week would still have yielded the usual mix of the young, the old, the bronzed, the pasty, the large, the ripped, the 'wow, look at them', the 'I wish they would cover up', the rented umbrellas and chairs, the usual queues at the concession stand and curly-haired kids frolicking in the ocean waves.

But this week there was so much more.

There is a huge structure, serving as the centre court and centerpiece of the World Under-19 Beach Volleyball Championships, there are practice courts strewn everywhere, sweaty and earnest volunteers doing their best to help the plethora of top class officials from abroad ? and then there are the players.

Troops of exotic looking boys and girls, bronzed from months of non-stop outdoor action, leaping around, diving, stretching and grunting their way through some fast-paced, thrilling encounters.

So far everything has gone smoothly at this Bermuda Department of Tourism-backed event. Crowds wandered away from the surf to take their places in the grandstand to enjoy even the qualifying on Wednesday and even the threat of Tropical Storm Florence is unlikely to keep them from filling the capacity 1,500 stadium come finals day on Saturday.

Although the names will mean nothing to all but the most avid of fans, you can safely be assured that some of these players will be gracing Olympic courts in the not too distant future ? "or they could end up as models," quipped our keen volunteer.

There has been a clear atmosphere of mutual appreciation so far this week with players as delighted to be here as organisers are to have them.

Tourism are already hailing the event as a success ? the hurricane hasn't hit yet ? describing it in the words of Sports Tourism Manager Adam Barboza as a "toe in the water" in the world of beach sports.

And if things go as well as they look like they could from the opening day, then Tourism will probably be throwing themselves headlong into the water and bringing in Pro Tour events as well as maybe beach football.

For the athletes, they are loving being here ? even if it is a little hot for some of the Europeans.

"Awesome," said one Canadian, "gorgeous" said another ? although he did say it when what looked like the Brazilian female team were walking past ? "incredible, very pretty" said sweaty Italian Francesco Giontella after winning a place in the main draw from qualification despite Wednesday's intense heat.

The group stages were battled out yesterday and today and the serious knockout stuff ? weather permitting ? gets underway tomorrow and the the finals on Saturday where all games are going to take place in front of what most are expecting to be a capacity crowd ? barring a hurricane of course. But even then . . .