WELCOME to the FAN OASIS that showcases all the best that the exciting sport of Pro Beach Volleyball has to offer.
With 40 million people playing volleyball in the United States and hundreds of millions worldwide,
the sister sport of Beach Volleyball deserves some love and respect too. In the true grassroots heritage of the sport, this site's goal is to develop a following - one fan at a time. Through weekly trivia contests with prize giveaways, fun surveys, timely stories, and blog updates, we bring the world of beach volleyball into your home - closer than any other site can. So, hang out here and follow the links to all sorts of fun! But first, some background...
BEACH VOLLEYBALL 101, 102, and 103
101: Wondering what beach volleyball is all about and too shy to ask! Here's a quick intro....
You've played volleyball before, right? So picture, this great sport played on sand - often along an oceanfront, or in a neighborhood park in soft sand. Although teams can be formed with six, four, or three players, but the most challenging and exciting style of play is doubles. Here, it's just you and your partner trying to keep the ball in play on a court a bit smaller in size than the indoor court. Pretty much the same basic rules apply... but there are differences.
102: The doubles game is a test of fitness, agility, courage and confidence. After all, it's just two of you handling the duties of serving, digging, setting, hitting, and blocking... and you have to be ready to rise to the challenge at any given moment. Some rule differences include: you can only touch the ball three times on your side of the net (including a block), you can cross the center line as long as you don't interfere with your opponents, and there are no substitutions. If you're tired or injured, you gotta tough it out (or call a timeout to regroup).
103: At the pro level, most players have a strong indoor volleyball background where they've honed their skills at the club, high school, and college levels. But making the transition to the doubles beach game at the professional level requires a lot of patience, practice, and perseverance. For some, switching to the beach sport is somewhat easy - especially if they have a well-rounded set of indoor skills. For others who may be front-row indoor specialists, they need to work on all skills in order to succeed on the beach. Only after years of beach volleyball play does a team advance the ranks on the top U.S. pro tour, the Association of Beach Volleyball Professionals, to earn enough money to survive and even contemplate a run for the Olympics - the ultimate goal of any athlete. Players like Misty May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh, Todd Rogers, and Phil Dalhausser have progressed to this upper echelon of competition - a level that all of us can only dream about.