Beach Volleyball Overview & Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets

Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net. As in indoor volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent. A team is allowed up to three touches to return the ball. The ball is put in play with a service, a hit by the server from behind the rear court boundary over the net to the opponents. The rally continues until the ball is grounded on the playing court, goes “out,” or is not returned properly.

The team winning a rally scores a point (Rally Point System), and serves to start the following rally. The four players serve in the same sequence throughout the match, changing server each time a rally is won by the receiving team. Originating in Southern California and Hawaii, beach volleyball has achieved worldwide popularity.

New jetties in Santa Monica, California created a large sandy area for public enjoyment in 1920, planting the seed for beach volleyball development in that region. The first permanent nets began to appear, and people soon began playing recreational games on public parts of the beach and in private beach clubs. Eleven such beach clubs appeared in the Santa Monica area, beginning in late 1922. The first inter-club competitions were staged in 1924.

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 is credited to Paul "Pablo" Johnson, an indoor player of Santa Monica Athletic Club. 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 two people present. The game was forever changed. Though recreational games continue to be played with more players, the most widely played version of the game, and the only one contested at an elite level, has only two players per team.

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Beach Volleyball Debut in Olympics and its Tickets

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 Pacific Palisades, CA. The event was organized by David Wilk of Volleyball Magazine, based in Santa Barbara. The winners, the 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 sports Promotion Company named Event Concepts with Craig Masuoka and moved the World Championship of Beach Volleyball to Redondo Beach. Jose Cuervo Tequila 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 following 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, Randy Stoklos, 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 Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos and Karch Kiraly became household names. In 1987, the FIVB created the first World Beach Volleyball Championships, played in Rio Janeiro, Brazil won By Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos. The FIVB began organizing worldwide professional tournaments, and laid the groundwork for the sport's Olympic debut in 1996.

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Professional Beach Volleyball and Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets

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 Pacific Palisades, CA. The event was organized by David Wilk of Volleyball Magazine, based in Santa Barbara. The winners, the 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 sports Promotion Company named Event Concepts with Craig Masuoka and moved the World Championship of Beach Volleyball to Redondo Beach. Jose Cuervo Tequila 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 following 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, Randy Stoklos, 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 Sinjin Smith,Randy Stoklos and Karch Kiraly became household names. In 1987, the FIVB created the first World Beach Volleyball Championships, played in Rio Janeiro, Brazil won By Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos. The FIVB began organizing worldwide professional tournaments, and laid the groundwork for the sport's Olympic debut in 1996.

Beach Volleyball is most favorite Olympic Sport. You can purchase Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets and enjoy it live in London Olympics. Olympic Tickets are being sold at Global Ticket Market. Global Ticket Market offers you all types of Olympic Tickets at affordable prices. You can buy any of Olympic Tickets including Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets easily, securely and at very cheap rates.   

May Treanor and Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets

Misty Erie May Treanor was born on July 30, 1977. May Treanor is an American professional volleyball player. She has won more tournaments than any other female player with 107 career wins. May Treanor and teammate Kerri Walsh were the gold medalists in beach volleyball at both the 2004 and 2008Summer Olympics. They have been called "the greatest beach volleyball team of all time".
Misty E. May was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1977. She grew up playing beach volleyball at the Santa Monica Pier with her parents, Butch and Barbara. At age eight, she played her first volleyball tournament with her father, and played other sports like soccer and tennis, as well as participating in dance. She attended primary school at Bright wood Elementary School in Monterey Park. She also suffered from an eating disorder in her younger years.
May Treanor played her first professional match on the AVP tour in May 1999, while still a college senior. After graduation from Long Beach State, May Treanor joined the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team in the summer of 1999, only to quit soon after because "volleyball was not fun anymore". Instead, she chose to pursue a beach volleyball career and teamed with Holly Mc Peak, a skilled beach player looking to win a medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics after a disappointing 5th in 1996 with partner Nancy Reno. The pair played their first tournament together on the FIVB tour in Salvador, Brazil in November 1999. Seeded 22nd, Mc Peak/May Treanor finished 9th.
May-Treanor/Mc Peak found quick success in international as well as domestic play in the 2000 season in the Olympic qualification process. They won their first tournament together in April at a USAV event, followed by two wins on the FIVB tour, and one on the now-defunct BVA. With three FIVB tournament wins and no finishes lower than 5th, the pair qualified for one of two US Olympic berths, paving their way to the Sydney Games. The duo, however, managed only a 5th place finish at Sydney.

After completing the 2000 season with Mc Peak, May Treanor teamed up with Kerri Walsh. For two years, the pair avoided playing on the AVP tour, which had recently emerged from bankruptcy. Instead, the duo played on the international FIVB tour. They were the FIVB tour champions in 2002. In 2003, May Treanor and Walsh signed with the AVP. They received "Team of the Year" honors after having an undefeated season, going 39–0 in match victories with eight tournament wins. Since teaming up, May Treanor and Walsh have dominated both the AVP and FIVB beach volleyball tours. Before the start of the 2008 Olympics, they were riding a win streak of 101 matches and 18 tournaments that began in June 2007.
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Beach Volleyball Hit Characteristics

The ball may touch any part of the body, but must be hit, not caught or thrown. In particular, in defensive action of a hard driven ball, the ball can be held momentarily overhand with the fingers.

When receiving a ball from a hit that is not hard driven, the ball must be contacted "cleanly" if a player receives the ball open handed, the contact of each hand with the ball must be exactly simultaneous. In practice, this means that serves are never received open handed. When receiving an opponent's hard driven attack, a double contact provided both contacts occur in a single action or a slight lift of the ball is allowed. When employing an overhead pass as the second of three team touches usually with the intent of "setting" the ball, so that the other player may make a more effective attack-hit, the standard for a double contact fault is lower than when receiving or attacking, though still much stricter than in indoor volleyball. The standard for a lift fault during an overhand pass is less strict than in indoor games it is legal to allow the ball to come to rest for a small period of time.

Attack hits using an “open handed tip or dink” directing the ball with the fingers are illegal, as are attack hits using an overhand pass to direct the ball on a trajectory not perpendicular to the line of the shoulders overhand passes which accidentally cross over the net are an exception. These differences between the rules of indoor volleyball and beach volleyball strongly affect tactics and techniques.

Beach Volleyball is most favorite Olympic Sport. You can purchase Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets and enjoy it live in London Olympics. Olympic Tickets are being sold at Global Ticket Market. Global Ticket Market offers you all types of Olympic Tickets at affordable prices. You can buy any of Olympic Tickets including Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets easily, securely and at very cheap rates.   

Horse Guards Parade and Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets

Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference TQ299800. It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Color, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat.

Horse Guards Parade was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall's tiltyard, where tournaments were held in the time of Henry VIII. It was also the scene of annual celebrations of the birthday of Queen Elizabeth. The area has been used for a variety of reviews, parades and other ceremonies since the 17th century. It was once the Headquarters of the British Army. The Duke of Wellington was based in Horse Guards when he was Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. The current General Officer Commanding London District still occupies the same office and uses the same desk. Wellington also had living quarters within the building, which today are used as offices.

The parade ground is open on the west side, where it faces Horse Guards Road and St. James's Park. It is flanked on the north by the Old Admiralty and the Admiralty Citadel, on the east by William Kent's Horse Guards formerly the headquarters of the British Army and on the south by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the rear garden wall of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister. Access to this side of Horse Guards Parade is now restricted for security reasons. Horse Guards Parade will host the beach volleyball competition of the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London. Temporary courts and seating will be installed, much as seating is installed annually for Trooping the Color. There will be one court with a capacity of 15,000 with two tiers and four floodlight towers at each of its corners, two practice courts to the east of the arena, and a further six practice courts at St. James's Park.

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Beach Volleyball and its Cultural Affects

Olympic Beach Volleyball culture includes the people, language, fashion and life surrounding the sport of modern beach volleyball. With its origins in Hawaii and California, Olympic Beach Volleyball is strongly associated with a casual, beach-centric lifestyle. As it developed nearly in parallel with modern surfing, Olympic Beach Volleyball culture shares some similarities with surf culture. The beach bum archetype is one such example.

Fashion often extends from the clothing worn during play, like the bikini or board shorts. And much like surfers, Olympic Beach Volleyball players are at the mercy of the weather; patterns of play often develop based on weather conditions like sun and wind. Olympic Beach Volleyball is considered an important part of the local culture in many Southern California beach towns. Indeed, cities like Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Santa Barbara and Huntington Beach maintain permanent poles and nets year round.

In naturism and nudism volleyball has become a cliche and a source of much amusement to non-naturists/nudists. The concept entered mainstream consciousness when Alan Alda's character, Hawkeye, in the show M*A*S*H frequently ogled nude volleyball pictures in his nudist magazines. It is true that naturist/nudist parks around the world almost always feature an active Olympic Beach Volleyball community. The nude volleyball tournament held at the end of the summer at White Thorn Lodge in Darlington, Pennsylvania, attracts thousands of players from around North America. 

The level of play is so good that non-naturist teams participate. In Southern California Black's Beach has been hosting nude volleyball for over 30 years and naturists/nudists still play today. A local group called "Black's Beach Bares" associated with the naturist society, maintains four nets all year round and is still growing. They have been interviewed by news stations and have been featured in magazines and newspapers.

Olympic Beach Volleyball has a great impact on the lifestyles of connected people. Olympic Beach Volleyball is actually western style sport which allows all open environments. Enjoy this glamorous sport in Olympics of London 2012. Purchase Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets and enjoy it live in London Olympics. Olympic Tickets are being sold at Global Ticket Market. Global Ticket Market offers you all types of Olympic Tickets at affordable prices. You can buy any of Olympic Tickets including Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets easily, securely and at very cheap rates.