Beach volleyball
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Image:Men's beach volleyball.jpg Image:Beach Volleyball in Vancouver.jpg 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:
- The court is 8 by 8 meter, not 9 by 9 as in indoor volleyball
- Overhand finger passes are not allowed when receiving or attacking. Exceptions are receiving a hard smash or when attacking and the trajectory of the ball (both before and after the pass) is perpendicular to the passing player's shoulders.
- The standards of double hits when using overhand finger passes is much stricter than in normal volleyball.
- The block always counts as the first contact
- The disallowance of the dink play where a player uses their finger tips to redirect the ball into the opponent's court instead of a hard spike
- Stricter rules around double-contacts during hand setting
- Looser rules on serve return
One of the facets of beach volleyball is the use of hand signals by players to indicate to their partner what sort of play they intend to make. These signals are made behind the back, to avoid the opposition seeing the signals. Generally, a closed fist means the player will not attempt a block, one finger means the player will attempt to block an opponent's spike down the line, and two fingers means the player will attempt to block an opponent's spike into the angle.
The standard attire of female competitors makes beach volleyball events popular with editors of tabloid newspapers, as well as TV.
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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.
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.
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.
Other countries such as Greece, Germany, and even China have developed a large and competitive following.
Beach volleyball in the Olympics
In 1996, beach volleyball became a separate Olympic event.
Most of the players representing the United States in the indoor Olympic Games were coming from the beaches of Southern California.
Controversy
Since its introduction as an Olympic sport in 1996, Beach Volleyball has been the target of a reasonable degree of criticism from some conservative groups as well as the governments of certain countries, particularly Islamic nations of the Middle East and South-East Asia.
Many of these people argue that Beach Volleyball, and particularly the female aspect of the game, is too sexualized to be considered a truly respectable sport. People have pointed out that professional beach volleyball is one of the only sports where female athletes are mandated to wear a uniform which does not exceed a certain size, essentially encouraging a "less is best" approach towards female attire, and argue that it is simply a ploy to market the game for viewership and sponsors.
In return, some people counter-argue that the sex appeal of beach volleyball is not entirely one-sided, as women also enjoy beach volleyball in order to watch fit and bare-chested men.
The controversy of the sport hit a new high at the 2004 Olympics, when a DJ would play music clips between sets while female dancers in skimpy orange bikinis performed for the crowds. This and the requirement that women players wear more revealing clothing than the men led to accusations that the sport was less respectful than other Olympic events, with some columnists comparing it to a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition spread rather than pure athleticism. In any case, beach volleyball at the Athens Olympics was a massive success, and some critics point out that the controversy may have even helped the sport become more popular.
Famous players
The biggest stars of beach volleyball are Kerri Walsh and Misty May, who are dubbed the sport's "Golden Couple". Other popular American players are Holly McPeak, Elaine Youngs, and Rachel Wacholder. International stars include the Brazilian Ana Paula Connelly and Australian Kerri Pottharst. Overall, female beach volleyballers are generally more famous than their male counterparts, in addition to having equal and sometimes even larger prize money pools.
Beach Volleyball is also a sport where increased attention is being paid to up-and-coming young stars, particularly the young Brazilian Carolina Solberg Salgado, who has won a gold medal in Under-18 and Under-21 FIVB tournaments two years in a row.
Even nations which do not even have a coastline have performed well in international beach volleyball, as the Czech duo of Sona Novakova and Eva Celbova are quite successful and popular in Europe.
The following is a list of well-known players in the United States:
- Karch Kiraly (still active in his mid-forties)
- Brent Frohoff
- Tim Hovland
- Adam Johnson
- Mike Lambert
- Sinjin Smith (now retired).
External links
- Beach Volleyball
- Official rules - from Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB).
- Professional beach volleyball
