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 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, bocce, cricket and disc golf. The games are not highly realistic simulations of the sports, but more orientated towards unrealistic physics, stylized beach scenarios, and a simplified rule set. It is most notable for being the third Wii game (the first being "Pokémon Battle Revolution" and the second being "") to feature connectivity to