At first glance, it appears to be a normal doubles volleyball game played by a group of guys on the Tel Aviv beach.
A second, longer glance reveals that it looks a little bit like soccer—the ball is bouncing off the players’ feet.
It is not evident which sport it is, but that’s because it’s neither. But it’s also both.
It’s called footvolley, and it’s an increasingly popular sport in Israel.
“It’s like volleyball, just without hands– same rules, same court,” Itay Zehavi, one of the Tel Aviv players, said. “Like you can see, lots of people are here every day. Now that it’s getting into summer, everyone is coming here and tourists are watching, and it’s amazing.”
The game, which was created in Brazil in the 1960s, captured the attention of Zehavi and his friend Amit Shaked.
Zehavi and Shaked, who have been friends since they were young, used to play soccer.
“But we just, we came to the beach and we saw it and just started in like circles on the beach, and then you go up to the net,” Shaked said.
A background in soccer is not necessary, Shaked said. It’s practice and patience.
It takes a lot of patience. Zehavi plays regularly and coaches teams for girls, and he said the process of learning to play is grueling.
“It’s not a natural thing for the body to do,” Zehavi said. “Like, moving on the sand and then being very stable with the ball. So the basics take a lot of time.”
The game appears to be more about skill than power, allowing the women to play rather easily alongside the men.
The rules of the court are the same as volleyball, while the ball-touch rules are taken from soccer.
To serve, a soccer ball is kicked off a mound of sand, over the net. The receiving team can pass the ball using either their feet, chests or heads—just no hands. Each side gets three touches to send it over the net.
Many of the points came from strategic placement of attacks rather than the speed of them. Every single touch required extreme levels of control keep the ball in play, demonstrating why Zehavi says the basics are hard to master.
Zehavi has put in enough time and patience to qualify for international tournaments.
To enter an international tournament, players must pair up, and then the Israel Footvolley Association decides who to send.
Zehavi made it to the tournaments in Germany and Russia. In Russia, the teams played indoors rather than on a beach, and an Israeli team won the tournament.
Beyond that, the sport is not yet very organized. In the summer, there is a competitive league with foreign players and sponsorships, but there is no governing body like in international soccer.
Zehavi and Shaked said they have hopes for footvolley’s growing popularity because it’s an exciting game that draws people in.
“It’s the most beautiful sport,” Shaked said. “It’s a whole new world.”
~Giana Han
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