History Of Beach Volleyball Essay

The Short History of Beach Volleyball
Branching off from our last article, the game of volleyball itself was invented in 1895, and almost at once it swept around the world; not only as an official sport, but also as a pastime that could be described as one of the “crazed” varieties. Well, it didn’t just stop there; volleyball eventually made its way outdoors, to the beach!
Early descriptions of beach volleyball indicate that it started on the “beaches of everywhere”, but with southern California and Hawaii being the first places to have permanent beach volleyball nets established. At first and for a long time, beach volleyball was played just as standard volleyball was at the time. Nudist/Naturalist clubs were early adopters of outdoor volleyball and adapted to the smaller team rules when they

appeared; in fact, White Thorn Lodge in Pennsylvania has held an annual nude tournament since 1971. The two man team idea is credited to Pablo Johnson a volleyball player out of Santa Monica California in 1930; that same year however two man teams were reported to have appeared on beaches in France, Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, and Latvia as well just to name a few.
The culture of beach volleyball is very close to that of surf culture, with quite a few overlapping themes and fashions. The first Tournament was held in 1947 in California, but the winners of the tournament had to wait until the next year in order to receive a prize for their winnings. In 1948 the prize was more immediate, but it wasn’t what you would expect, as the winners were presented with a case of Pepsi soda. However, as the years went by the prizes eventually got better, as beach volleyball had established a firm hold on western society. By the 1960’s beach volleyball was played by not only the famous like the Beatles, but the powerful as well; figures such like John F. Kennedy, who was also an avid beach volleyball player.
By the mid 1970’s, professional beach volleyball had finally come into its own as a full-fledged pro beach volleyball tour was organized.

It wasn’t long before sponsors started to come forward in order to take advantage of beach volleyball’s growing popularity; in 1974, Winston Cigarettes sponsored "The $1500.00 World Indoor Two-Man Volleyball Championship", which was won by Fred Zuelich and Dennis Hare (who wrote The Art of Beach Volleyball). Finally in 1986, the International Volleyball Federation recognized the sport, and since then the beach volleyball’s world tour has spread from the United States and into Europe and Asia. Beach volleyball became a demonstration sport at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, and in 1996 at the Olympic games in Atlanta, 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams represented their countries in the first ever Olympic Beach Volleyball Tournament. Despite beach volleyball’s popularity in the 80’s and 90’s, American beach volleyball had suffered setbacks during the 90’s; two professional tours, the WPVA and the AVP had to close its doors and filed for bankruptcy. In 2001, the AVP reemerged but had to again shut their doors and file for bankruptcy in

2010.
Despite the setbacks, beach volleyball has become a global sport. Who would have guessed that what initially started off as a family fun past time would become a rapidly spreading sport? Since its inception, beach volleyball has become a global sport, and has spread to the rest of the world as well; which is quite the accomplishment for its short history!