Beach volleyball has come a long way from California. The North American AVP tour went coast-to-coast with a few stops in between. As with a lot of Olympic sports, Europe has been a gracious host for many events.

But if you check the 2011 FIVB tour, the first since the AVP’s demise (IMG and USA Volleyball will team up for a short domestic series), you’ll find:

– A lot of events in central Europe

– A tour of the beaches of China and Scandinavia

– The lone stop in Brazil, a hotbed of beach sports, held in far-inland Brasilia

– No events on anything the Western world would consider a traditional beach

Just check the map:

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