CALGARY -- When you think of Calgary, beach volleyball isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. 

But there’s a growing number of sand players in this city thanks to The Beach YYC. 

It’s a facility located in southeast Calgary and according to Leah Pezer of the Calgary Beach Volleyball Association, the sport isn’t showing any sign of slowing down.

"I’m actually from Calgary and then moved to Vancouver.  I’ve just come back and I was not expecting how big beach volleyball is in this city," she said. "It’s alive here and this facility is amazing and the athletes are so good."

The National Beach Volleyball League has helped. It’s in its first year here in Calgary and the semi-final playoffs are set for this weekend.

The league has some of the best volleyball athletes from across Canada, including Megan Nagy. She plays beach volleyball for Team Canada. Nagy says she’s impressed with the level of competition.

"There’s players that are still competing for Canada nationally. There’s players that were playing professionally indoor before," Nagy said.

"There’s a big beach community here which really surprised me honestly, and it’s been a really high level of competition so far."

Jarron Mueller grew up playing indoor volleyball but always played beach in the summer.  He says you have to be an all-round player to excel at the beach game.

“I was a setter, so I was always having to give the ball to someone to hit," he said. "That’s why beach has been a lot of fun, because I can pass and hit. So it’s kind of a cool, all-round game and fun to play with one other person.”

Another challenging thing about beach volleyball is jumping in the sand. Jordan Brown is the part of the future of the sport. She’s a youth player, so isn’t old enough to play in the league yet. But she is learning from the best and says she would love to compete nationally one day.

"I get to practice with all the teams and I get exposure from all of them," Brown told CTV. "I love practicing with them because it gives me an opportunity to see what my future could be like."

You can catch the National Beach Volleyball League semi-final on Sunday at the Beach YYC.  In the first game, the Dome defenders will take on ACE at 5:30 p.m. Then at 6:30 p.m., it’s Play Beach up against the Calgary Beach Volleyball Association.