British beach volleyball duo, 21-year-olds Javier and Joaquin Bello, have agreed a partnership with sports sponsorship and communications specialists, SQN, that will see the agency represent the twins in the build-up to the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The Bello siblings, who have held the British men’s top rank since 2019, are looking to put the country on the world beach volleyball map. Competing on the international stage against teams from countries where the sport is far more mainstream than in the UK, the brothers are making a name for themselves.
The brothers, who moved to Britain with their family in 2011, have been playing volleyball since the ages of six, thanks in no small part to their father Luis, their coach and former professional player himself.
Javier and Joaquin quickly formed a natural partnership on-court and began their international career in 2016, earning their first cap for England at the U17 Northern European Beach Volleyball Championships. They went on to take gold.
They won the first World Tour medal for any British men’s team in 2019, and the nation’s first-ever gold medal two years later. As juniors, they took gold in the Commonwealth Youth Games, and finished fifth in the U19 World Championships and Youth Olympic Games.
The pair, currently ranked 51st in the world, have their sights set on a place at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer. Next up for the duo, who are both in their final year of university (Joaquin studying medicine, Javier reading philosophy, politics, and economics), is Tlaxcala City in Mexico: the first stop in the inaugural Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, which starts today.
SQN will be supporting the Bello brothers with the agency’s sponsorship, communications, and social media expertise, as they look for brands to support their journey.
Javier said: “We are proudly representing England – and GB – in beach volleyball and are incredibly humbled to have the chance to compete against some incredible athletes. Ours is a very niche sport, and not widely promoted in the UK, so we’re delighted to have the support of SQN as we look to make our way up the international rankings.”
Joaquin added: “To compete with the best, we need to have the best support structure around us – not just coaching and kit, but also the commercial and communications elements. To have an agency like SQN guiding us in this area is super important in Commonwealth year.”
SQN Managing Director Chris Hughes said: “Javier and Joaquin are genuine stars in the making in British sport. They are not only incredible athletes but down-to-earth, ambitious, and determined off the court. We’ll be backing the Bello brothers every step of the way, starting with the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour in Mexico this week. As partnerships go, theirs is formidable, and they are definitely ones to watch.”
