'This is not an event place': Volleyball players frustrated by trash at English Bay Beach

Two signs could be seen posted at the English Bay beach volleyball courts Friday afternoon.

The first one – a big, yellow sign with Vancouver Park Board branding – announced that the courts would be closed Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. for a "special event."

The second sign was smaller and clearly not posted by the park board.

"This is a volleyball court, not a bar," the second sign began, in all caps.

"Who is gonna clean it after event? (sic) Who is gonna pay for injuries from the trash left in the sand?"

A larger unofficial sign – one that covered up the park board's – was removed by park rangers earlier in the day. It too criticized the city for closing the volleyball courts for events, as well as event-goers for leaving trash behind.

Alex Gram told CTV News he and his fellow beach volleyball players are frustrated by the constant struggle to keep the beach clean, and events hosted on the beach – such as the Celebration of Light and this weekend's African Descent Festival – exacerbate the problem. 

"We're a little tired of people coming down and treating the beach like a bar," Gram said. "They bring their stuff and they leave their garbage and this is where we play volleyball. This is where we dig, we fall, we jump, we're almost naked, and we get injured all the time."

He spent a short time digging through the sand and quickly collected a handful of detritus, including multiple bottle caps and cigarette butts.

"Usually there's broken glass," he said. "Sometimes there's needles, which is the worst."

Gram argued that large events aren't held on other sports playing surfaces in the city, and shouldn't be allowed on the English Bay beach volleyball courts either.

"I'm not against the event in particular," he said of the African Descent Festival.

"I'm against (having) events at all, because this is not an event place, this is the beach where we play volleyball."

Asked for comment on Gram's concerns, the park board told CTV News in an emailed statement that its staff is "supporting the implementation of the operational plan to ensure public safety and minimize impacts on the public and beach during the African Descent Festival."

"In accordance with the cleanup plans, the event organizer has hired the services of a private company to assist in maintaining cleanliness throughout the festival, and the city has been contracted to collect the garbage bins following the event," the statement reads. "Paper-pickers will be on site in the early morning to clean the park and beach."

Volleyball players used signs to express their displeasure with events being held on English Bay Beach. (CTV)