Beach volleyball started out in California as a pastime. Due to its popular appeal it developed into a thriving professional sport

Family fun

Beach volleyball first appeared in the early 1920s in Santa Monica, California. Then what started out as just some family fun became a sport spreading rapidly across the world. By the 1930s, the game had reached countries like Czechoslovakia, Latvia and Bulgaria.

Depression free

Interestingly, beach volleyball really took off in the United States during the 1930s, perhaps as a little light relief from the Great Depression. The first official two-man tournament took place in 1947, and the first beach volleyball circuit, involving hundreds of players and five California beaches, began in the 1950s.