WHITBY'S first junior beach volleyball tournament will be taking place this weekend.

The Whitby Seafoods Classic Beach Volleyball Tournament will take place on Saturday, May 21 in the coastal town, hosted by the town’s North Riding Eagles Volleyball Club.

Volleyball England will be supporting the event and Team GB’s Chris Gregory and Jake Sheaf will also be attending.

Local schools including East Whitby, Eskdale and Botton schools, along with Caedmon College, all have teams and players taking part in the volleyball festival.

Great Britain volleyball stars and Rio Olympic contenders Chris Gregory and Jake Sheaf will be getting the festival off to a start at Eskdale School on Friday, where they will be involved in a local schools training camp and putting pupils through their paces.

They will also be appearing on Saturday and aiming to introduce people to the sport and encourage new talent. Teams from Scarborough, York, Bridlington, Hull, Middlesbrough and Harrogate will all be competing.

Anthony Laffan, who coaches North Riding Eagles, said he wanted to engage all abilities in the sport and see more locals playing.

“We want to nurture home grown talent and to get players into the national programme. This is our goal,” he said.

Whitby Seafoods' Junior Volleyball Tournament will be held between 10am and 3pm on the beach by the West Pier.

Further details can be found on Volleyball England website: www.volleyballengland.org//whitby_seafoods_beach_classic