Beach volleyball the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) was founded. At the professional level, the sport remained fairly obscure until the 1980s when beach volleyball experienced a surge in popularity with high-profile players such as Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos, and Karch Kiraly. Kiraly won an Olympic gold medal in beach volleyball in its first Olympic appearance in 1996, adding that to the two Olympic golds he won as part of the USA men's indoor team, and has won 142 titles. In the 1980s, the sport gained popularity on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1986, the
Big Beach Sports referred to the game as "an unmitigated success" in the company's Q1 2009 earnings call and referred to it in his strategic plan at the end of 2008. It received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. Big Beach Sports Big Beach Sports is a sports game for the Wii developed by HB Studios and produced by THQ. The game is a collection of six sports simulations, in which players compete on a beach resort location. The sports include: American football, volleyball, soccer,