Story by Rebecca Leeb with additions and pictures by Emma Mayerson.
Depending on the climatic conditions of the place that we live in, there are different things that we usually do so as to adapt to the conditions and thus make life to be much more conducive in such places, or when the seasons change. This would happen when it comes to work and other official duties or also when it comes to leisure activities. This is how people begun to use the water volleyballs in their pools, as they aimed to cool off in the summer heat while also having fun and playing one of their favorite sports. This has however changed as the sport grows in popularity, and even in the countries that are relatively cold, the sport is now gathering a considerable following as promoted by Rebecca Leeb.
The sport has been played for leisure for more than fifty years now, but it has only been recently internationally regulated, as an international body for the sport has just been recently formed. Thus few competitive matches have been held as compared to other sports that have been internationally run for almost a century now. Thus when it comes to playing this game of water volleyballs for the fun of it, most of the rules would earlier just be based upon the mutual agreement of the participants.
The aspect of mutual agreement on some aspects of the game is particularly seen when it comes to choosing some of the equipment of the game, more so the water volleyballs themselves. Rebecca Leeb always suggests playing with equipment agreed upon by everyone. Better to remain friends than create enemies. You could use any ball as long as all the players agree that the ball you have got is good for use. It would obviously have to be spherical. Despite this lack of standard measurements when it comes to deciding the balls, preference has been shown to the beach volleyballs, as they are quite large and are of the right pressure. They are also quite resistant to elements of the weather, and in this case one that would be of great importance is not absorbing water, because the heavier the water volleyballs, the harder it would be to play with them. The material that is commonly used to make the balls is synthetic leather, though you could still go for other types as long as they do not absorb water.
One matter that is much more difficult to settle in this game as compared to the matter of the water volleyballs is the issue of the place where you are to put the net, because it is quite difficult to put the net in a uniform area of the swimming pool, that is in terms of the depth of the pool. If it is possible for all the participants to be on the same side of the pool, either the shallow or the deep end, then you would not have to worry much about this. It is however preferred to have all the players on the deep end of the pool. However, if one side of the participants, Rebecca’s team, happens to be in a different area of the pool, then you would have to constantly alternate in terms of the sets so that the playing field is a little bit level. The number of participants in this game is not standard, as you could play with as little as one player on either side of the net, to up to four players on either side.