Beach volleyball Santa Monica Athletic Club. In the summer of 1930, while waiting for players to show up for a six-man game at the Santa Monica Athletic Club, Johnson decided to try playing with only the four people present, forming two two-man teams for the first recorded beach volleyball doubles game. The players realized that with fewer players on the court, a taller player's height advantage could be neutralized by a shorter player's speed and ball control. The popularity of the two-man game spread to other nearby beach clubs and eventually to the public courts. Though recreational games continue to be played
Beach volleyball Tour were held the following year. By 1998, the sport had been added to other multi-sport events including the Pan American Games, Central American Games, Southeast Asian Games, Goodwill Games and Universiade. In 2001, the FIVB began organizing the annual FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships, with the annual FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships beginning the following year. Despite its increased popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, American beach volleyball suffered setbacks. In 1998, the American women's professional tour – the WPVA – and the American professional men's tour – the AVP – filed for bankruptcy, plagued by problems