Beach volleyball
The history of the origin and development of beach volleyball
Jul
Historical background
Beach volleyball originated in the 1910s in Hawaii. While waiting for a good wave, members of the local surf club often played volleyball right on the beach. One of the most avid players was the famous swimmer Olympic champion and record holder Duke Kahanamoku.
Later, he, already as the sports director of the Santa Monica Beach Club (California), did a lot to turn beach volleyball from the fun of vacationers into a real sports game: dynamic, spectacular, requiring good physical fitness from the participants.
It was in Santa Monica in the 1920s that a net was first installed on the beach and a volleyball court was marked out. So the second birth of beach volleyball took place – already in a new capacity.
Special sites began to appear on public and private beaches in Southern California. The main part of the players (in “serious” matches, the game was played in the 6×6 format) were students of local colleges. Since 1924, private clubs have been holding regular local competitions.
In the second half of the 1940s, several beach volleyball tournaments were held in California. In the early 1950s, a genuine boom in beach volleyball began in the state, it becomes almost as much a sign of the “California lifestyle” as surfing, being associated in people’s minds not only with sports, but also with music and fashion.
In 1965, the first beach volleyball organization in the history of the beach was created – the California Beach Volleyball Association, which develops the first uniform rules.
In 1986, beach volleyball was recognized by the FIVB (International Volleyball Federation), and in February 1987 the first official World Cup was held, the winners of which were Americans Randy Stokloss and Christopher Smith.
In 1992, beach volleyball was part of the unofficial program of the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
A year later, in Monte Carlo, it was recognized as an Olympic sport, and in 1996 it made its official debut at the Olympic Games – with the participation of 24 men’s and 18 women’s teams.
The first Olympic champions were Americans Karch Kiray – Kent Steffes (men) and Brazilian pair Jacqueline Silva – Sandra Pires (women).
