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Beach Volleyball

Beach Volleyball is a variation of the traditional indoor volleyball played on sand and consists of two teams, each of which has two players. It is one of the most popular competitive sports in the world, with the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) being the global governing body. Beach Volleyball is an Olympic sport, which was first introduced in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The most popularly played variation of Beach Volleyball is two-on-two, in which each side is allowed to have ten contacts on the ball before it must be sent over the net. This version of the game is played on a court size of 16 by 8 meters (52 by 26 feet). Additionally, a new format of four-on-four Beach Volleyball, with four players on each side, is gaining more popularity and is now officially recognised by the FIVB. Beach Volleyball is played globally, though professional tournaments mainly occur in the USA, Brazil, Serbia, Italy and Norway. The USA also hosts an annual professional tour, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, which has been running since 1983. The FIVB calendar year consists of dozens of tournaments, including the FIVB World Tour Finals, the FIVB World Championships, the FIVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup and the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup. Popular teams and players include: Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross, Brazilians Thiago Braz and Alison Cerutti, Serbians Marko Samir and Sasa Starovic, Italians Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai as well as Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sørum. In addition to the traditional two-on-two format, beach volleyball has a number of standard rules such as the service zone, the 3-metre line, and the rally-point scoring system. The rally-point system is similar to tennis and awards a point to the team that won the rally exchange. The team that wins two sets out of three is declared the winner of the match. Beach volleyball was first developed in the 1920s in California, USA. In 1930, a tournament competition was held in Santa Monica in the USA and is officially recognised as the first organised beach volleyball tournament and the official start of the sport. Since then, beach volleyball has become a staple of beach culture and a popular Olympic sport.