Yorick de Groot & Steven van de Velde will be a new team on the international men’s beach volleyball stage and are expected to make their Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour debut together at the very first Elite event of the year, in Joao Pessoa from March 11 to 15. De Groot’s previous partner Stefan Boermans decided to take a break from the Dutch national team and from the Beach Pro Tour, while Van de Velde’s previous teammate Alexander Brouwer will be focused on rehabilitation over the coming weeks. After playing a couple of high-level events on the 2025 Beach Pro Tour together, Matthew Immers & Leon Luini will reunite to hit the courts at the Mexican Challenge stops in Tlaxcala and Nayarit later in March as another new top-caliber Dutch pair.

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Before splitting up, Boermans & De Groot were one of the world’s best teams, voted number five in Volleyball World’s Best of 2025 in men’s beach volleyball. Currently, they are number five in the FIVB World Ranking, but they have reached as high as number one in the chart during their journey together – for three weeks in May 2022 and for another week in October 2024. They also qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where they progressed to the quarterfinals.

“After five years of intense partnership, this season Yorick and I will split for now,” announced Boermans, leaving the door open for a possible return. “Due to many different ideas on this lifestyle, me being on the road until May, taking a break from the national team for diverse beach volleyball activities, and Yorick wanting to continue playing on the Tour we have made this decision. It’s never easy, but we think this is the best for the both of us. I will keep you updated on all my travel plans and, as soon as I know what the national team wants to do from May onwards, I’ll be happy to share that too. This means I won’t participate in the first three Elite stops of the year.”

25-year-old De Groot’s new partner Steven Van de Velde is also a Paris 2024 Olympian. The 31-year-old blocker competed at the Games alongside Matthew Immers, but then teamed up with experienced two-time Olympian, Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2013 world champion Alexander Brouwer for the 2025 season. With both of these two partners, Van de Velde earned bronze medals at the CEV European Championships in 2024 and in 2025. In fact, in the 2025 EuroBeachVolley third-place match, Van de Velde & Brouwer beat Boermans & De Groot to make the podium. Van de Velde & Brouwer are currently number 12 in the World Ranking.

For most of the 2025 season, Matthew Immers played alongside Ruben Penninga, with the exception of the Warmia Mazury Challenge and the Gstaad Elite, where he partnered with Leon Luini. Immers & Luini, both 25 years old, are back together for the new 2026 Beach Pro Tour. Most recently, Luini competed on the Tour with teenager Yannick Verberne as a teammate.

The fans in Joao Pessoa will also get to see Netherlands’ top women’s pair in action. Two-time Olympians and former number one in the World Ranking Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon are continuing their journey together. 25-year-old Emi van Driel and 20-year-old Mila Konink are another new Dutch pairing the fans will see in action at the women’s Beach Pro Tour tournaments in March.

At the same time, the Dutch national team will no longer rely on the services of Wies Bekhuis, Lisa Luini and 2023 U21 world champion Desy Poiesz.

“These are never easy decisions, but with the World Championships on home soil next year and the Olympic Games on the horizon, we are making choices that align with the program's medium and long-term course,” explained Brazilian head coach Lucas Palermo, whose contract with the Dutch national team was recently extended until the 2028 Olympic Games. “We are grateful to all three for their dedication and contributions over the past period.”

“I strongly believe that something valuable doesn't happen overnight and that time is essential to create true consistency and progress,” Palermo said. “Together with a well-structured organization that thinks and plans long-term, I am motivated to give my best every day. We have now created the conditions to fully focus on long-term development and growth.”

Meanwhile, legendary Dutch player Reinder Nummerdor, a 2015 World Championship silver medalist, a London 2012 Olympic semifinalist and a three-time European champion, announced his decision to leave the coaching staff of the national beach volleyball team of the Netherlands after seven years on the job.

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