Beach volleyball

Beach volleyball has evolved from the popular social games of volleyball played on many beaches around the world. This version, rather than being played on indoor hard courts, is played on sand courts, which are either formed naturally or built specifically for the purpose. Instead of a team of six, each team consists of only two players, but otherwise the rules are almost identical with some exceptions including:

History

Beach volleyball started in Santa Monica, California in the 1920s. A decade later, beach volleyball began to appear in Europe. By the 1940s, two-man doubles tournaments were being played on the beaches of Santa Monica for trophies. In the 1960s, an attempt to start a professional volleyball league was made in Santa Monica. It failed, but a professional tournament was held in France for 30,000 French Francs. In the 1970s, a few professional tournaments in Santa Monica were sponsored by beer and cigarette companies.

Related Topics:
Santa Monica - California - 1920s - Europe - 1940s - France - 1970s

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While the history of beach volleyball is relatively lengthy, the sport (at the professional level) remained fairly obscure until the late 1990s and 2000s when beach volleyball experienced a great surge in popularity thanks to greater media exposure and the development of bonafide stars such as Kerri Walsh and Misty May, who are now well known throughout the world.

Related Topics:
1990s - 2000s - Kerri Walsh - Misty May

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For decades, the two nations which have dominated international beach volleyball are Brazil and the United States. Recently, Australia has emerged as a distant third superpower, and all three of these nations have a reasonably well developed national touring system which typically takes place during the summer months. Furthermore, these are the only countries which have won a gold medal in an Olympic beach volleyball event since its debut at the 1996 Games. Specifically in the case of the more popular Women's event, each country has won once each, the Brazilians in 1996, the Australians in 2000, and the United States in 2004.

Related Topics:
Brazil - United States - Australia - 1996 - 2000 - 2004

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Other countries such as Greece, Germany, and even China have developed a large and competitive following.

Related Topics:
Greece - Germany - China

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