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
Jon Lee (volleyball player) one at UCSB. His high school boys and girls volleyball teams both won CIF (Southern California) Championships and many collegiate and Olympic stars emerged from his programs, including U.S. Beach Volleyball Gold Medalist Todd Rogers, AVP Professional Dax Holdren, U.S. National Volleyball team members Brook Billings and Jeff Menzel, and West Coast Conference First Team player Mandy Bible among others. He was named CIF Coach of the Year three times. Remarkably and most enduringly, 52 of Lee's players have gone on to become volleyball coaches. In 2009, San Marcos High School honored Coach Lee by naming the Lee Court in