About 450 indoor volleyball athletes and coaches will compete in La Paz on March 27 and 28 in a regional qualifying tournament for Mexico’s 2026 National Olympics, known as the Olimpiada Nacional CONADE (Mexico’s national sports commission). The La Paz volleyball tournament uses three venues across the city, with matches starting at 8:00 a.m. both days.
Five Northwest States Compete at Three La Paz Venues
Delegations from Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California, Chihuahua, and host state Baja California Sur are registered for the two-day event. Teams will play at Arena La Paz, the Polideportivo sports complex, and the gymnasium at UABCS (the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur), located on the south side of the city along Boulevard Forjadores.
The macroregional format groups Mexico’s 32 states into clusters. Winners from this northwest region earn berths in the national finals. La Paz has become a regular host for CONADE regional qualifiers, and the city also hosted the 2023 Beach Pro Tour Challenge at El Malecón, an international beach volleyball event sanctioned by Volleyball World.
Youth Development Fair Runs Alongside Competition
A secondary event, the Integral Youth Development Fair (Feria de Formación Integral de Adolescentes), will run Thursday evening at the Polideportivo. The fair focuses on youth sports development and is open to the public. The Polideportivo sits near the intersection of Boulevard Colosio and Calle Rangel in the Esterito neighborhood, about a 10-minute drive south of the Malecón waterfront.
La Paz is no stranger to hosting large sporting delegations. The city’s compact geography, with three usable indoor courts within a few miles of each other, makes it practical for multi-venue tournaments. Arena La Paz, the largest of the three facilities, is the home court of the local volleyball association, which has more than 13,000 followers on its Facebook page.
CONADE’s national finals typically take place later in the year, so March results will determine which athletes from the northwest continue training toward the main event. A separate beach volleyball regional qualifier is also scheduled in La Paz for late April, with more than 200 participants expected at El Malecón from April 24 to 27, according to the Baja California Sur state government website.