Footvolley

Footvolley ( _pt. Futevôlei) is an international sport which combines field rules that are based on those of beach volleyball with ball-touch rules taken from Soccer. 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).

History

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, Santos, and Florianopolis have players who have been playing footvolley since the 1970s.

Emergence of beer & liquor sponsors

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) looked to jump summertime sales across Rio de Janeiro and began sponsoring the Circuito Carioca de Futevolei in the early 1990s. The Carioca lifestyle - the beach, soccer, fitness, and party atmosphere (remember summertime in Brazil is Carnaval time) - were the perfect ingredients for the beer sponsor to associate itself with the sport. Since footvolley is non-contact: the vacationing Brazilian football stars, many coming from top European teams, would spend their days playing the sport as well.

The SKOL events had famous footballers in exhibitions and the professional players battling it out for the glory. Besides Romário - none of the footballers could come close to matching the high level of play at these tournaments.

SKOL became Rio de Janeiro's number #1 selling beer overtaking both Brahma and Antarctica.

Footvolley also drew the cachaça companies in Brazil to compete for the obvious publicity the sport drew. Player agreements which conflicted with tournament sponsors became a huge problem in the liquour category.

Some notable Brazilian footballers who have played (or still play) footvolley are: Romário, Edmundo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Júnior, and Edinho (1982 & 1986 National Team).

Growth of footvolley internationally

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 too easy and the rallies nearly non-existent. Of course footvolley appeals to those that play football but also the obvious difficulty in not using your hands is extremely appealing as well. Combining all its elements footvolley (with proper television exposure) has the potential to become the world's most played beach sport by 2015.

Pro footvolley in the United States

The Pro Footvolley Tour was launched in 2008. This new professional tour will feature the best players in the US - and international guests - at each event. The first Pro Footvolley Tour event was held in South Florida on Hollywood Beach on March 8-9, 2008. Brazilian soccer legend Romario with his Rio de Janeiro based partner Joao Luis won the tournament beating a Deerfield Beach based squad of Paulo Ricardo and Alex Reis.

The Hollywood event drew 5,000 spectators. In addition, the event was broadcast LIVE on Univision nationally during its highest-rated Sunday afternoon sports show 'Republica Deportiva'.

Official website for he Pro Footvolley Tour is [http://www.footvolley.net]

Footvolley's national governing body in the United States

US Footvolley, based in Miami Beach, is the sport's national governing body (NGB.) It is chartered to grow the sport within the United States, sanction tournaments and equipment manufacturers; and represent the US in international competitions. It has so far done all of the above.

The US squad is determined by individual rank at the annual US Footvolley National Championships. Composed of mostly former college soccer players the top US players are: Sergio Menezes (founder & team captain), Francis Faberhoff, Jevin Albuquerque, Brendon Taguinoid, and Austin Roman among others. Players who represent the US must be citizens.

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 CruzFlorida: Miami Beach & Deerfield BeachHawaii: Waikiki Beach

More information on the United States Footvolley Association at [http://www.usafootvolley.org]

U.S. Footvolley National Championship

4th U.S. Footvolley National Championships (August 2 & 3, 2008)

:1st Place: Eduardo Ribeiro Fiuza (Miami Beach, FL)& Miguel Habib (Miami Beach, FL):2nd Place: Adriano Rego (Deerfield Beach, FL) & Junior Pereira (Deerfield Beach, FL):3rd Place: Claudio Rodriguez (Deerfield Beach, FL) & Fainor Lima (Boca Raton, FL)

3rd U.S. Footvolley National Championships (Sept 2007 Hollywood, FL)

:1st Place: Adriano Rego & Junior Pereira (Deerfield Beach, FL):2nd Place: Sergio Menezes & Igor Martins (Miami, FL):3rd Place: Fernando 'Cabelo' & Lucas 'Party Boy' (Miami Beach, FL)

:Sponsors: Bud Light, Cachaca Moleca, DISH Network, Flash Power Energy Drinks

2nd U.S. Footvolley National Championship (December 2006)

: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 U.S. Footvolley 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 in the United Kingdom

2005
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 the UK Footvolley Association and Yellowave Beach Sports. In the final game, Brazilian players Andre & Guilherme defeated Dirceu & Chris .

2006
In the 2006 edition of the UK Open, again in Brighton, the audience had the opportunity to watch some great matches and saw Dirceu & Luigui beat Fabio & Andre 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 and 16 teams from 8 countries competed. the event, sponsored by Hawaiian Tropic and Carphonewarehouse.com was won by Xavier & Leca from France.
In April 2006 the England Team accompanied football legends John Barnes and Niall Quinn to a tournament in Pattaya, Thailand organized by the Thai Footvolley Federation.

2007
In 2007 the 2 events held were the Muller Rice Open in Croyde, and the Lamisil Once Footvolley Open in Brighton. Dirceu & Luigui were champions at both events, maintaining their unbeaten record and David & Gary, the England Footvolley Team No. 1 pair won the Shield Competition.

2008
This year - 2 events are planned, again in Brighton and Croyde;
Sat June 14th - Brighton Open sponsored by Barfeoot Wine
Sat/Sun June 21/22 - Croyde Open sponsored by Muller Rice
Also - on Wed June 4th the England Team will be playing live on BBC1's Blue Peter programme

Footvolley internationally

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 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.

ee also

Sepak takraw

External links

* [http://www.footvolley.net Pro Footvolley Team Tour (US)]
* [http://www.usafootvolley.org Footvolley Team USA]
* [http://www.futvoley.es Footvolley Pro Circuit Spain]
* [http://www.sfvv.ch Swiss Footvolley Federation]
* [http://www.fifov.com Italian Footvolley Federation]
* [http://www.efvf.com European Footvolley Federation]
* [http://www.footvolley.nl Footvolley Netherlands]
* [http://www.footvolleygroningen.nl Footvolley Groningen]
* [http://www.footvolley.co.uk UK Footvolley Association]
* [http://www.foot-volley.de German Footvolley Federation]
* [http://www.futevolei.pt Footvolley Federation Portugal]
* [http://www.yellowave.co.uk Yellowave Beach Sports]