Beach Volleyball

History

OUTDOOR or beach volleyball made its appearance on the sunny beaches of California in 1930. The first competitions were held in the 1950’s and it remained a sport with a cult following. By the 1980’s it had overtaken indoor volleyball in popularity. The president of the International Volleyball Federation saw enough promise to hold the first World Beach Volleyball Championship in Rio de Janeiro in 1987. In1996 it became an Olympic sport.

Rules

The court is slightly smaller than that used in indoor volleyball.

Each team has 2 players and no substitutions can be made.

Players can hit the ball over the net with their hands or any part of the body. The ball cannot touch the body twice.

If the ball falls on the line, it is in. One can play from any position on the court. The winner of each rally, irrespective of which team served, scores a point.

A team scores a point if it hits the ball and it lands in the rival’s half of the court.

Champions

At the international level, Brazil and USA boast of the best teams in the beach volleyball competition in both men’s and women’s categeries. American Karch Kiraly is the only player to have won Olympic golds in both versions of the game.

Trivia

It is one of the few games in which the women’s matches attract more spectators and bigger prize money!

To communicate, players make intricate hand signals behind their backs out of sight of rivals.