National Federation
Volleyball Association Of Ireland
First Floor
141 Thomas Street
Dublin 8
Tel: +353 1 6707165
Fax: +353 1 6707167
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.volleyballireland.com
Olympic History
The International Volleyball Federation was founded in 1946, ten years before the sport was recognised by the International Olympic Committee. Volleyball (indoor) for men and women was added to the Olympic program in Tokyo 1964 with the Soviet Union winning the men’s and Japan the women’s in front of the home crowd.
Beach volleyball gained Olympic status in Atlanta 1996. TheUnited States team of Charles “Karch” Kiraly and Kent Steffes won the men’s title. Kiraly was a member of the gold medal-winning United States team in indoor volleyball inLos Angeles1984 and Seoul 1988.
Technical Details
Volleyball competitions are held in indoor courts, by two teams of twelve, each with six players in the game and six on reserve. The volleyball court is rectangular, measuring 18 x 9 m. A net divides the court into two equal parts, two ‘team courts’.
The Court
The court for indoor volleyball is 9m x 9m each side and the beach court was reduced for Athens to 8m x 8m. The net height for men is 2.43m and 2.24m for women.
In Volleyball, the team winning a rally scores a point (Rally Point System). When the receiving team wins a rally, it gains a point and the right to serve, and its players rotate one position clockwise.
Format
Indoor matches are played in the “best of five set” format. The first four sets are played to 25 points and the fifth set to 15. For all sets a 2 point advantage is required, with no cap.
Beach volleyball matches are the “best two of three set” format. The first team to win two sets wins the match. The first two sets are played to 21 points, and the 3rd set if needed is played to 15 points. For all sets a 2 point advantage is required, with no cap.
Beach Volleyball
Beach volleyball is the outdoor equivalent of volleyball and – despite its glamorous, sun-kissed image – is every bit as gruelling as its indoor counterpart. Although beach volleyball is not always played on an actual beach, the deep sand base used for the court provides little grip, but is a soft surface for landings. This means that games can get incredibly physical as players dive to catch shots without the risk of serious injury that a hard floor would cause.
As with indoor volleyball – and other ball and net games, such as tennis and badminton – the objective of the game is for players to score points by getting the ball to touch the ground in their opponent’s half of the court. Teams are made up of two players, while matches are played over three sets, in which the two squads fight to be the first to score 25 points.
Beach volleyball is played between two teams of two players on a sandy court measuring 16m in length and 9m in width. The aim of the game is for players to score points by getting the ball to touch the ground in their opponent’s half. In between the two halves of the court is a 1m-high net, strung between two posts so that its top edge is 2.43m off the ground for men’s tournaments and 2.24m off the ground for women’s tournaments.
Two vertical pole markers sit on top of the net – spaced at 8.5m width – and mark the area that the ball must be passed through for legal shots. If the ball hits a marker, a point is lost.
