Taking Hockey to the Sand: Greg Mill on World Beach Hockey’s Global Vision and Olympic Ambitions

In an exclusive conversation with iSportConnect’s Taruka Srivastav, Greg Mill, President of World Beach Hockey, shares the journey of transforming a fun beachside experiment into a globally recognized sport. From Australia’s shores to a worldwide movement backed by the FIH, Mills discusses the rapid rise of Beach Hockey, its youth-centric digital strategy, Olympic aspirations, and how the sport is becoming a tool for inclusivity, innovation, and sustainability in modern sport.

What inspired the launch and global push for World Beach Hockey as a standalone sport, and how do you see it complementing traditional field hockey?

My wife and I attended the Men’s World Cup in the Hague in 2014 where at the same time the inaugural Beach Hockey festival was also held. This hybrid version of hockey was captivating and as we have great beaches in Australia we took it back home a year later. In October 2023 The Federation of International hockey approved World Beach Hockey as a recognized organization. Field hockey is a technical sport, not easy to pick up for first timers. Beach Hockey is a safe and fun version of hockey that is easy to play for those who have not held a stick before.  Statistics over 4 years have shown that a high percentage of first time players who tried beach hockey then transferred across to playing eleven a side and indoor hockey so was a great compliment to bringing new players to hockey.

Can you share your vision for World Beach Hockey over the next five years, both in terms of participation and international reach?

We are looking to have 100 nations playing beach hockey by the end of 2026, we are well on our way to this target. Or main focus is to introduce it to young players but we are getting participation feedback from adults, Masters and all abilities athletes.  We also are planning to have a focus over the coming years to empower young girls and women to take up the sport.

Beach sports often appeal to younger audiences — how is World Beach Hockey leveraging this trend to build fan engagement and digital-first communities?

Our marketing focus is to sell beach hockey to youth as a fun, fast and action packed sport. Our marketing tag is Xtreme Beach Hockey.  We plan to run events around the world allowing kids to try out and enjoy the benefits of beach hockey. Instagram and YouTube will be used to focus on this community.

What role does innovation—whether in format, rules, or technology—play in the evolution of Beach Hockey as a spectator-friendly sport?

Beach Hockey is a visual sport played on the sand and in a state of the art inflatable beach hockey pitch. It lends itself to broadcast opportunities to showcase the action. Beach Hockey rules allow a high scoring game where you  can score from anywhere on the pitch Arial balls are also a major highlight of competition.

Which markets or regions are showing the most growth potential for Beach Hockey, and how is your federation supporting their development?

We are growing quickly in all five continents,  in Europe, Germany, Netherlands and Italy,  Pan America- Puerto Rico, Mexico and Argentina,  Asia-India, Oceania- New Zealand and Australia and Africa- Egypt, Kenya and the Middle East- Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. We work closely with all national federations  to support them with marketing, training  and access to specific beach hockey equipment.

What are your ambitions regarding inclusion in multi-sport events like the Youth Olympics or even the Olympic Games?

The IOC through the ANOC organization now run the World Beach games (the Olympics for beach sports) Our organization is submitting to participate in the next World Beach Games in 2027 We also have plans to run both a Junior World Cup and Adult World cup in the future.

From a commercial perspective, what types of brand partnerships are you exploring or hoping to secure to help scale the sport?

Beach Hockey is a great opportunity for sponsorship partners to showcase their products. We are looking to work with hotel chains, sports apparel, sports eye wear, drink companies. But any brand would work within our sponsor partnership arrangements.

 Sustainability is crucial in modern sport—how is World Beach Hockey ensuring that its events are environmentally responsible, especially in coastal settings?

Sustainability  of the beach environment is a key focus of our sports organization. This includes ensuring environmentally conscious beach clean ups are initiated,  no plastics are disposed of and proper waste disposal occurs. We also have a respect and maintenance for the natural ecosystems in coastal regions.

How are you approaching gender equality and grassroots access in your global development plans?

We have  gender equality guidelines These guidelines confirm how much inclusivity is a crucial principle for beach hockey hockey. No matter the gender, the age, the physical or intellectual ability, the religion, the sexual orientation, the ethnic or social background, everyone is welcome in our sport!”.  Our guidelines are based on the following main principles:

-Favouring gender equal, diverse and inclusive representation of the hockey community;

-Avoiding bias or negative stereotypes on gender and diversity;

-Generating new strong, positive, and diverse role models.

What message would you like to send to potential stakeholders—sponsors, broadcasters, and federations—about why now is the right time to get involved with World Beach Hockey?

The opportunity of coming onboard with a new, innovative and exciting new sport does not come along very often. Beach sports are the new frontier for sports participation  so for sponsors, broadcasters and federations it is a wonderful  chance to join us in the evolution of beach hockey around the world.