Posted: Monday 13 February 2012
Olympic Countdown - No. 5 Beach Volleyball
Sun, sea and sand
If like me the very mention of beach volleyball conjures up images of glorious sunshine and golden sand beaches, you will not be surprised to learn that the sport originated in the sun-drenched states of Hawaii and California in the early 1920s.
Whilst the rules of beach volleyball are similar to that of indoor volleyball, there are a couple of noticeable differences. Firstly, and of course most obviously, the court in beach volleyball is covered in sand and is situated outdoors. In addition, whereas an indoor volleyball match is played between teams of 6, beach volleyball matches adopt the 2 vs. 2 format.
Beach volleyball at the Olympics
The sport of beach volleyball first made its debut as a demonstration event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics before becoming an official Olympic sport at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
For the London Olympics, the men’s and women’s events will begin with a preliminary phase where the 24 teams in each event are divided into pools of 4 teams. 16 teams will qualify for the knockout phase with the two winners of the semi-final going head to head for gold in the final match.
The smart money for success this summer will be on teams from the United States of America and Brazil. Both countries have dominated the sport winning a total of 16 medals between them out of a possible 24 since beach volleyball’s introduction to the Olympics in 1996.
Anyone got a ticket?
It would be perhaps naïve to suggest that the rise in popularity of beach volleyball as a spectator sport has been solely due to the fast, competitive nature of matches. Any sport in which players are dressed in two-piece bikinis and boardshorts is always likely to draw attention and none more so than from politicians it would appear.
Last month, it was reported that the top civil servant at the Department for Culture Media and Sport, Mr Jonathan Stephens, told the Culture, Media and Sport committee that it was just a “coincidence” that the government has purchased 410 beach volleyball tickets, at a cost of £26,000, compared to only 246 tickets for athletics.
Such revelations do not come at a great time for the London Olympics and its organising committee (LOCOG) as it comes under increasing scrutiny over the handling of the ticketing for the event. In particular, the media has been very critical of the system referred to as “double tipping” whereby EU residents apply for Olympic tickets in the UK ballot whilst also applying for tickets allocated to their country’s National Olympic Committee.
So is “double tipping” illegal? Well the short answer to this is no. Under EU free trade laws, EU residents are perfectly entitled to apply for tickets in the UK ballot and their application will be treated no different to that of a UK national. Of course this works both ways and UK residents are free to apply in other EU countries for tickets from their allocation.
One important point worth noting is that if you have obtained a ticket for the games and can no longer attend, Section 31 of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 makes it a criminal offence to sell your ticket without authorisation from the LOCOG. There is an exception to this however - provided you are contactable by LOCOG on the day of the event in case of any problems, a member of your family or a friend will be permitted to use your ticket.
So if are either related to, or are friendly with, any politicians, do not give up hope. Come the end of July, you may yet be sitting at Horse Guards Parade in glorious sunshine watching some beach volleyball.
