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Footvolley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Footvolley is a sport which combines field rules that are based on those of volleyball with ball-touch rules taken from football. Points are awarded if the ball hits the ground in the opponents' court, if the opponents commit a fault, or if they fail to return the ball. Scoring is done using the rally point system (NEW volleyball rules). Matches may be one set to 18 points or 2 sets to 12 points (tie break at 9 points). The court is 30 x 60 ft (old beach volleyball) with the net height set to 6'10 (slightly lower than the women's beach volleyball net).
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Footvolley was created in Brazil in the mid-1960s with informal rules and became popular in the 1980s — when volleyball was popularized in that country. Footvolley may have started in Rio de Janeiro; but cities like Recife & Salvador have players whom have been playing footvolley since the 1970s.
Similar to the way beach volleyball championships in California became the rage in the 1980s, it was the presence of major beer and liquor companies backing footvolley that made this sport take off. Skol (a major Brazilian beer company) saw the beach culture lifestyle, amazing skill, and wonderful party like atmosphere as ingredients to become the main sponsor for the Campeonatos Carioca de Futevolei in the mid-1990s. The level of play at these events was so high that few famous Brazilian footballers ventured into playing the competition; but instead opting for exhibition matches. Notable exceptions to this rule are the following Brazilian footballers: Romário, Edmundo, and Edinho (1982 & 1986 National Team).
Brazilian culture has always been revered outside the country. Footvolley was no exception. Amateur Brazilian athletes took footvolley to different parts of the world and forward looking promoters jumped on this new sport.
From the US, Europe, to Asia, promoters of footvolley all see a wonderfully inexpensive, addicting to play, exciting to watch, and super technical sport become the most played beach sport in the world. Volleyball is simply to easy. Plus, footvolley appeals to those that play football. Combining all its elements footvolley (with proper television exposure) has the potential to become the world's most played beach sport by 2015.
US Footvolley, (footvolley.net), based in Miami Beach, is BOTH the sport's national governing body (NGB) and principal footvolley event producer in the states. In September 2006, US Footvolley partnered with an exclusive Miami Beach resort/club and hosted a VIP Footvolley event which Brazilian soccer superstar Romario (and his partner) took 1st place.
US Footvolley also is responsible for sanctioning tournaments, growing the sport stateside, and fielding a national team for international competitions.
This squad is composed of mostly former college soccer players. Top US players are: Sergio Menezes (founder & team captain), Jevin Albuquerque, Francis Faberhoff, Brendon Taguinoid, Austin Roman, Benyam Astorga, among others.
To become a member of US Footvolley one only needs to reside in the US (and fill-out the membership form). US Footvolley is the world's most diverse footvolley federation with Brazilians, Colombians, Argentinians, Venezuelans, Mexicans, and Jamaicans all playing/participating in sanctioned events.
Top hot spots in the United States for footvolley are: California: San Diego & Santa Cruz Florida: Miami Beach & Deerfield Beach Hawaii: Waikiki Beach
The 2nd US Footvolley National Championship was held in December of 2006 on Miami Beach with these all-Florida final results:
1st Place: Brenno Souza (N Miami Beach, Fla.) & Paulo Orelha (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
2nd Place: Adriano Rego (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) & Junior (Pompano Beach, Fla.)
3rd Place: Nildo Shubert (Miami, Fla.) & Sergio Menezes (Miami Beach, Fla.)
4th Place: Daniel Rego (Key Biscayne, Fla.) & Felipe (Miami Beach, Fla.)
1st National Championship (December 2005):
1st Place: Franco Cappuotti (Hollywood, Fla.) & Claudio Rodriguez (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
2nd Place: Adriano Rego (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) & Beto Lima (Hollywood, Fla.)
3rd Place: Marcelo Lins (Hermosa Beach, CA) & Sergio Menezes (Miami Beach, Fla.)
4th Place: Nildo Shubert (Miami, Fla.) & Brenno Souza (North Miami Beach, Fla.)
Footvolley is gaining popularity in the UK and in 2005 the first UK Open of Footvolley took place in the city of Brighton. The tournament was organized by FootvolleyUK and Yellowave Beach Sports. In the final game, Brazilian players Andre Mendonca and Guilherme Carioca defeated Dirceu Souza and Chris Stow. In the 2006 edition of the UK Open, again in Brighton, the audience had the opportunity to watch some great matches and saw Dirceu Souza and Luigui Malandro beat Fabio Souza and Andre Mendonca in the final. The tournament was sponsored by Lastminute.com.
Also in 2006, Croyde Bay, Devon, was the venue for the first leg of the Euro Championship of Footvolley. It was the first major international Footvolley event hosted in UK soil.
In International play, the US #1 squad of Sergio Menezes and Betto Lima won Gold in Canada (2002) and Silver in Austria 2004. Also, Albuquerque and Farberhoff represented the US in Thailand in 2006 while Menezes & Farberoff played in Valencia, Spain in August of 2006. The women's team is mostly based in the Virginia Beach area, where an annual event has grown the player base significantly.
Dutch National soccer stars take part in an annual footvolley match in Aruba which is shown on national TV. Brazilian soccer stars routinely play in charitable events in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo beaches as well.
The Brazilians remain top in the world at footvolley; however, strong challenges have come recently from other powerhouse nations including: France, USA, Thailand, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Paraguay, Germany, Switzerland and Holland.
Games with similar elements include Bossaball, Footbag net, Jianzi, Sepak Takraw and Sipa.