At Praia Internacional do Porto, next to the Edifício Transparente, the stands of the Beach Stadium are open to everyone who passes by. Entry is free.

Sitting in the front row is the Sousa family, who took advantage of their Sunday afternoon stroll to watch the first stage of the National Beach Footvolley Championship, which took place on 1 and 2 June. Rafael is 10 years old and had never been to a footvolley match before. "This is a spectacular experience. It's the first time I've seen a game like this and I'm loving it." "Would you like to try it?" we asked. Rafael doesn't think twice and his answer comes out with a smile. "Yes, I'd love to. I hope I can come to this stadium again to learn about other sports."

His father, David Sousa, says that they were out for a walk, but when they saw the Beach Stadium they decided to stop and go in. "I love sport and I want to instil this passion in my children. By bringing them to see different sports, I believe I can also awaken a taste for physical activity. It's important for them to know that there are many sports, much more than football. Spaces like this are important."

"We train all year round": the Beach Stadium marks the start of the season

The first weekend of the Beach Stadium, on 1 and 2 June, hosted the first stage of the National Beach Footvolley Championship. There was no shortage of support for the competing pairs in the stands. Rodrigo Otero and Juan Silva were the winners of the Porto event.

For Juan, "this stadium, next to the beach, is very stimulating; it's a very good area, we play at home and being able to have our supporters in the stands is fabulous". "Because it's by the beach, there's the issue of the wind, but we train well and it's a secondary issue. Being able to start here, winning the title, couldn't be a better start," he says.

The duo Bruno Graça and Vítor Vilaça took second place in the Porto leg of the National Footvolley Championship. The Beach Stadium symbolises "the start of the season" for Bruno. "Footvolley is a summer sport, but you have to train all year round, you have to train in winter. It's cold, it's rainy, it's very cold, but you have to do it. It's what we like to do. This stadium by the sea gives us more energy, the atmosphere here is perfect."

Beach Rugby was born in Porto in 1993

Over the weekend of 22 and 23 June, rugby took over the beach stadium with Porto Beach Rugby and the European Beach Rugby Championship. From 18 to 21 July, Praia Internacional do Porto will host the final of the European Masters Beach Rugby Championship - seniors.

In preparation for these competitions, Sport Club do Porto's different age groups (from under-6s to seniors) played a training match at the Beach Stadium. The younger players are the first to arrive and Nuno Gramaxo, director of the summer tournaments, welcomes them one by one. "Are you OK? Let's get on the pitch! Leave your trainers at the entrance."

Nuno Gramaxo, from Sport Club do Porto and director of the Beach Rugby tournaments, proudly states that this sport "was born in Porto; the world premiere of beach rugby was at Praia do Homem do Leme in 1993". "It was me, Henrique Rocha and Vera Roquette who, in a project called 'Viva o Verão', created this sport and from then on it spread all over the world."

Porto Beach Rugby has been taking place since 2016 and is part of the European beach rugby circuit, which is divided into six stages in six countries.

In July, the final of the European Beach Rugby Championship will be held in Porto, "bringing the best teams to the Beach Stadium. It's going to be a party, the best players are going to be here; the European champion teams are going to be competing, in other words Sport Club do Porto in the women's section and Les Minots, the French champions in the men's section, among many others," says Nuno Gramaxo.

The former rugby player and coach has no doubt that the Beach Stadium has played a fundamental role in training and attracting new players to beach rugby. "We often attract youngsters because they pass by here, by the stadium. They don't know it, they come and try it out, it's a way of bringing more people into the sport. This stadium is beautiful and has quality infrastructure. To organise a European Championship you need certain measures and characteristics of the pitch, and Porto has them. Ágora has always endeavoured to improve and promote rugby for everyone."

Raquel Lopes is 25, plays for Sport Club do Porto's senior women's team and also coaches the under-6s. "Summer tournaments aren't easy, we're going head-to-head with the best teams in Europe. But being able to see teams from other countries play is great. We work for this all year round, we train hard and we always aim to do our best." According to Raquel, "the atmosphere here is different, we have people around watching and it's always more festive and cheerful."

Daniela Correia is 36 years old and started playing rugby 15 years ago: "I only learnt about this sport at university, I had Nuno Gramaxo as a teacher and I fell in love with it. I really liked the simplicity of the technical gesture and the strategy it requires, as well as the physical contact. In the meantime, I was called up to the national team and I'm currently captain of the Women's National Team and I also play for Sport Club do Porto." She added: "Playing at the Beach Stadium is very emblematic, lots of people pass by, the location is exceptional and being in contact with the sand is fabulous, I feel very comfortable, especially when we fall. This stadium is fantastic for beach rugby".

Beach football brings some idols and increases interest

Beach football always fills the stands at the Estadio de Praia and the weekend of 3 and 4 August will certainly be no exception with the National Football Cup.

Madjer, Beach Soccer coordinator for the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), says that this competition "represents the culmination of a season, with one of the events of excellence that the FPF organises in conjunction with the local authorities, in this case the Porto City Council". "Normally, places like the Beach Stadium are chosen, which offer excellent conditions for practising beach football and sand sports."

Considered the best beach player of all time, with 1,082 goals and more than 40 titles won, Madjer says that infrastructures like the Beach Stadium play an important role in training. "When you're closer to the coast and beach areas, you get a lot of children and teenagers who are interested in playing the sport, they're curious. Beach football allows us to have very close contact with our idols, with the players, some of whom play for the national team; all this helps to boost training and interest in the sport."