BEACH VOLLYBALL

Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played on sand. Like other variations of volleyball, two teams, separated by a high net, try to score points against the other by grounding a ball on the other team's court. Competitive beach volleyball teams usually consist of two players, though recreational variations can contain up to six players.
Originating in Southern California and Hawaii, beach volleyball now receives worldwide popularity, even in countries without traditional beaches, like Switzerland.

History

Though popularized in Southern California, the first recorded beach volleyball games took place on the beaches of Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Outrigger Canoe Club.^[1] Originally designed to give bored surfers something to do when the surf was down, the game quickly developed into more organized six-man matches. The most famous early player was legendary waterman, Duke Kahanamoku.
In 1920, new jetties in Santa Monica, California created a large sandy area for public enjoyment, planting the seed for beach volleyball development in that region. The first permanent nets began to appear, and recreational games were soon being played on public parts of the beach, as well as in private beach clubs. 11 such beach clubs appeared in the Santa Monica area, beginning in late 1922. The first inter-club competitions were staged in 1924, marking the first beach volleyball tournaments to be played in California.
Most of these early beach volleyball matches were played with teams of at least six players per side, much like indoor volleyball. The concept of the modern two-man beach volleyball game, however, is credited to Paul "Pablo" Johnson, an indoor player.^[2] In the summer of 1930, while waiting for players to show up for a six-man game, Johnson decided to try playing with only the four people present. The game was forever changed.
Beach volleyball began to appear in Europe in the 1930s. By the 1940s, 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.^{[citation needed]} The first Manhattan Beach Open was held in 1960. The tournament is now considered the "Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball".^{[citation needed]}
In the 1970s, a few professional tournaments in Santa Monica were sponsored by beer and cigarette companies.^{[citation needed]} The first professional beach volleyball tournament was the Olympia World Championship of Beach Volleyball, staged on Labor Day weekend, 1976, at Will Rogers State Beach in Santa Monica, CA. The event was organized by David Wilk of Volleyball Magazine, based in Santa Barbara. The winners, first "world champions," were Greg Lee and Jim Menges. They split $2,500 out of a total prize purse of $5,000.
Volleyball Magazine staged the event the next year at the same location, this time sponsored by Schlitz Light Beer. In 1978 Wilk formed a sports promotion company named Event Concepts with Craig Masuoka and moved the World Championship of Beach Volleyball to Redondo Beach. Jose Cuervo Tequila was signed on as sponsor and the prize purse increased to $10,000. The event was successful and Cuervo funded an expansion the next year to three events. The California Pro Beach Tour debuted with events in Laguna Beach, Santa Barbara and the World Championship in Redondo.
In future years the tour expanded nationally and was renamed the Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. It consisted of five events in California and tournaments in Florida, Colorado and Chicago. Top players included Karch Kiraly, Singin Smith, Andy Fishburn and Steve Obradovich. By 1984 the Pro Beach consisted of 16 events around the country and had a total prize purse of $300,000. At the end of the year, however, Event Concepts was forced out of the sport by a players' strike at the World Championship and the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) was founded.
At the professional level, the sport remained fairly obscure until the 1980s when beach volleyball experienced a surge in popularity. Players like Karch Kiraly and Sinjin Smith became household names.^{[citation needed]} In 1987, the FIVB created the first World Beach Volleyball Championships, played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The FIVB began organizing worldwide professional tournaments, and laid the groundwork for the sport's Olympic debut in 1996.^[3]
Despite its increased popularity in the 80's and 90's, American beach volleyball suffered setbacks. In early 1998, the American women's professional tour - the WPVA - closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy. Later that same year, the American professional men's tour - the AVP - also filed for bankruptcy, plagued by problems as a player-run organization.^[3]
In 2001, the AVP reemerged as a for-profit, publicly-traded company that combined the men's and women's professional tours, with equal prize money for both sexes.
Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, who won two consecutive gold medals in 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, were named "the greatest beach volleyball team of all time".^[4] Among female beach volleyball players, May-Treanor has the record of most tournaments won with 106 career wins.^[5]

See also: Volleyball: Origin of the game

Rain Out/Cancellation Policy

A message concerning the status of a tournament will be on our phone (831-464-1496) by 7:00 AM the morning of the tournament should rain or other adverse weather conditions be in the forecast. (Cabrillo students call 477-3700 x1529 for the status of a class.)

In the event of rain or some other event resulting in the cancelation of a tournament, prepaid entries will be given a credit toward a future tournament. Since we take only the first 52 teams to register, let us know well in advance which tournament you would like to apply your credit so a spot can be reserved.

Should you want to withdraw from a tournament, 72 hours are required to receive a credit for a future tournament..

Special "No Attitudes Allowed" Rules

·          1. Go hard.

·         2. Have fun doing it.

·         3. It's a team effort.

·         4. Don't be cheesy!!! "Cheesy" (verb, defined by Webster's New International version): as in dumping on one or two, kicking the ball after losing a point, swearing, passing out dirty looks to your opponents and partner, playing the whole court on serve receive, serving continually to the weaker player, not slapping hands on side changes, thinking your opponents are throwing every ball they touch (even if they are), not congratulating opponents win or lose at the end of a match.

·         5. Make friends with your opponents.

·         6. Smile whenever the tournament director walks by your court (new for 1998.)

·         7. No current or previously CBVA rated players. Players should be of an intermediate-advanced skill level.

·         8. The player who gets too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

·         9. Those with an "Attitude" at the tournament will be required to wear special equipment. No "trash talking" or continual arguing of calls. The spirit of this tournament is to go 110% but support one another including our opponents while we are doing it.

·         10. Loose hand setting standards when attempting to set your partner; double-hit, mishandled, side setting okay. No "deep dish" or carried balls. If hand set is used to send ball over the net, it must be perfect with no spin and shoulders (front or back) facing direction of released ball.

·         11. No open handed serve receive or first contact unless digging a hard-driven spike. This solves a lot of arguments if we play by this standard.

·         12. In coed, men should try to serve men; women are free to serve either opponent.

·         13. "Dumping" on 1 or 2 is not appropriate strategy for this tournament.

·         14. 5 minutes between games; no pepper on the courts. A team not ready to play after 5 minutes is penalized a point a minute.

·         15. Every team goes to playoffs. If you decide to leave early, let the tournament director know. First or second round losers in playoffs may have the opportunity to play in a third division called the "Tide Pool." Stay close to the tournament board during playoffs; it is your responsibility to hear your court assignment.

·         16. Tie breakers for teams tied after pool play.

ball blocking

Beach Volleyball Rules (Revised for 2005)

The following is based upon the California Beach Volleyball Association's (CBVA) rules of play for beach volleyball. Special thanks to Steve Lawton and Mark Hull.

A. Net Play

·         1.You may go completely under the net into your opponent's court to play a ball as long as there is no interference with the opponent.

·         2. A ball can be played back to one's side of the net if it has crossed over the net, under the net, or outside the antenna as long as a team has one or more contacts left and the ball is played back under the net or outside the antenna (new for 2005).

·         3. The "let" serve is now played on the beach (new for 2005.)

B. Playing the Ball 

·         1. Soft dink (open hand, finger tip) is not allowed. Ball must be cleanly hit or "pop" off the hand.

·         2. When digging a hard-driven spike it can be double-hit and momentarily lifted. Open hand digs are okay.

·         3. With the exception of the hard-driven spike or block, you can never double-hit the first contact. If you receive the serve open handed (the serve is never considered a hard-driven spike regardless of its velocity), expect it to be called illegal. The tradition of the beach game does not allow the double hit on the first contact as does the indoor game.

·         4. A touch on the block will now count as one of the three contacts allowed per team.

·         5. Both indoors and outdoors, the ball can be played with all parts of the body.

·         6. When using a setting motion to send the ball into the opponent's court it must be released in the direction in which the shoulders of the player are facing either front or back. Side-setting is allowed when attempting to set your partner.

·         7. Recently changed, beach rules now require the server to clearly release or toss the ball before contacting it for serve.

·         8. A player may only have one toss per serve attempt.

·         9. It is illegal to move the court boundaries during the serving motion, even if the movement is caused by sand.

·         10. The server's teammate must not prevent the opponents, through screening, from seeing the server or the path of the ball. On an opponent's request, a player must move sideways, bend over or bend down.

·         11. No replay for "joust" above the net.

·         12. "Continuation" still exists in the beach game, meaning that, for example, if you touch the net after spiking a ball it is still a "net" even if the spike hit the sand before you touched the net (This rule may change in 2009).

C. Protocol

·         1. If there is an official he calls mishandled balls (sets, dinks, digs, etc.) Traditionally, judgment of setting is tighter on the beach but each year the move is to let players have more latitude with hand sets. Players call their own nets and ball in or out.

·         2. Rotation of players is not required and no substitutions are allowed.

·         3. Switch sides with opponent every 5 points in a game to 15 and every 4 points in a game to 11 to equalize the advantage of sun, wind, etc. Some competitions, mostly women's play, will use rally scoring.

·         4. Each half of the court is 8 by 8 meters (26' 3").

·         5. Net height is 7'4 1/8" for women and 7' 11 5/8" for men

For the upcoming season we will be playing by the rule changes approved by the California Beach Volleyball Association. Major highlights include the short court (8x16 meters), net antennas, and "let serve". Traditional scoring to 15 (win by two) will remain in effect. No Attitudes Allowed participants are free to determine the type of ball used in match play.

Also for the 2007 season we will be trying an experimental rule change concerning "former" or "previously" CBVA-rated players. With prior approval from the tournament director, one previously-rated player will be allowed to pair up with a very inexperienced or novice level player. The intent is to provide an opportunity for friends and family members to play together when one of them may have had a rating in the past but has not competed at that level in some time. Pairing up of two very strong players will be strictly prohibited. Without prior approval, teams containing a previously-rated player will not be accepted. The one exception is the August Fundraiser for the Spinal Cord Society where a previously-rated player will be allowed to pair up with a stronger player if that player has never been rated.

Special Note: Sand socks are highly recommended for tournament play as Main Beach typically gets very hot during the summer.