Beach volleyball started in Santa Monica, California in the 1920s. A decade later, beach volleyball began to appear in Europe. By the 1940s, two-man doubles tournaments were being played on the beaches of Santa Monica for trophies. In the 1960s, an attempt to start a professional volleyball league in Santa Monica failed, but a professional tournament was held in France.
The sport remained fairly obscure until the late 1990s, when beach volleyball experienced a great surge in popularity thanks to increased media exposure and the development of stars such as Kerri Walsh and Misty May. In 1996, the sport proved hugely popular when it was introduced to the Atlanta Olympic Games.
For decades, Brazil and the US dominated the sport, but Australia now has a national tour and other countries like Greece, Germany and China are all enthusiastic supporters of the sport.
Beach volleyball was introduced to the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1998.
