INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

developing a quality product, better penetrating the marketplace. The
TV Beach Volleyball properties reach more than 1 billion people
through live, live-to-tape, news and highlight programs, and are
broadcasted in more than 150 countries on all 5 continents. "Fun,
Game, Sun, Dream, Wonderful Resorts, and Celebration" these are the
words that the FIVB uses to describe the sport of beach volleyball
(Beach Volleyball Handbook, 2003). The 2004 Olympic games in
Athens will be the third time that the sport appears in the Olympics.
Its Olympic debut was in Atlanta 1996. The FIVB is the international
governing body for Volleyball and Beach Volleyball; Beach
Volleyball is part of the FIVB secretariat.
Beach volleyball in Israel is not a new sport; tournaments have
been taking place in the different beaches of Israel for the last ten
years, starting in the city of Tel-Aviv in 1992, both on amateur and
professional level. A year later, the formal Israeli championship took
place. In 1995 it was first broadcasted in the Israeli television. In 1996
the first Beach Volleyball championship for schools took place, it was
an initiative of the schools sports association and with the cooperation
of the development unit for young talented sport athletes and the
Israeli volleyball association. Since then, schools have become the
biggest competitive frame in the sport of beach volleyball (Verthaim,
Kaufman; 2002). Beach volleyball has emerged as a popular sport in
recent years. The sport was included in the last two Maccabiah games.
The game is mostly practiced on an amateur level and it is only in
the beginning of the summer that formal activities and tournaments
are organized by local authorities or by the volleyball association.
Two players were sent, by the IVA, to the United States for training in
order to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Most of the
professional beach volleyball players come from the indoor volleyball
game, either past players or those who play during the year on regular
bases indoor volleyball and in summer they form a team, based on two
players, and compete in the national tournaments. The Israeli players
fly abroad to practice the sport as the level in Israel is not among the
highest in the world and there are no qualified, national coaches.
During the summer of 2003, as part of the IVA's efforts to
promote the sport of beach volleyball and in continuation of past
activities, the IVA has decided to conduct two main activities. The
first was the creation of a beach volleyball league, which took place
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