As Summer Fades, Beach Volleyball Continues On the Beach in Ocean Park

9/24: Last weekend, our photographer Mary Leipziger captured these photos of kids and adults playing beach volley ball on Santa Monica beach. The modern game originated on Santa Monica Beach. An annual tournament played in Ocean Park in August attracts players from around the world.

During the academic year, an after school program for kids called West Coast Beach Volleyball operates from 3-5 pm daily, says Mary.

Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net, says Wikipedia.

Beach volleyball most likely originated in 1915 on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, while the modern two-player game originated in Santa Monica, says Wikipedia.

Beach Volleyball has been an Olympic sport since the 1996 summer Olympics. The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) is the international governing body for the sport, and organizes the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the court. Each team works in unison to prevent the opposing team from grounding the ball on their side of the court.

But unlike beach volleyball, it's much more difficult to bounce the ball on the ground.

As for College volleyball, the Santa Monica College Corsairs have a beach volleyball program going back to 1961. They have won 5 national championships, 17 conference championships, and 7 State championships over sixty years.

In 2015, The Corsairs beat the El Camino Warriors 3-1 in the final match of the State Men's Volleyball Championship, to win their first state title since 1983 and seventh overall. The Corsairs, who lost the 2014 championship match to Orange Coast in 5 sets, finished the 2015 season with an 18-2 record, winning conference and state.