Sports in Japan are a significant part of Japanese culture. Both traditional sports such as sumo and martial arts, and Western imports like baseball, association football, basketball and tennis are popular with both participants and spectators.
The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, commonly known by the acronym FIVB, is the international governing body for all forms of volleyball. Its headquarters are located in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its current president is Ary Graça of Brazil.
The FIVB Senior World Rankings is a ranking system for men's and women's national teams in volleyball. The teams of the member nations of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), volleyball's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIVB-recognised full international matches. The rankings are used in international competitions to define the seeded teams and arrange them in pools. Specific procedures for seeding and pooling are established by the FIVB in each competition's formula, but the method usually employed is the serpentine system.
The Confederación Sudamericana de Voleibol (CSV) is the continental governing body for the sports of volleyball in South America. Its headquarters is located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Sports in China consists of a variety of competitive sports. Traditional Chinese culture regards physical fitness as an important characteristic. China has its own national quadrennial multi-sport event similar to the Olympic Games called the National Games.
The UC Irvine Anteaters are the athletic teams fielded by the University of California, Irvine. Its athletics programs participate in the NCAA's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. For earlier years of the school's existence, the teams participated at the Division II level with great success as explained below.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The intercollegiate athletics logo was commissioned in 1983.
Sports in Indonesia are popular from both the participation and spectating aspect. Some popular sports in Indonesia are football, futsal, basketball, volleyball, badminton, and the native Indonesian martial art pencak silat. Badminton is arguably Indonesia's most successful sport. Indonesia has won gold medals in badminton in every Olympic Games since the sport was first introduced to the Olympics in 1992, with the exception of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Indonesia became the first grand winner in Badminton Olympics back then 1992. Indonesia regularly participates in the Thomas Cup, Uber Cup, and Sudirman Cup badminton championships, then became the first nation in history to complete those three titles. Indonesia also regularly participates in regional multi-events sport, such as the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games, and Olympic Games. Indonesia is one of the major sport powerhouses in the Southeast Asian region, winning the Southeast Asian Games 10 times since 1977.
The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup was an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's and women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The tournament was created in 1993 after radical changes made on the biggest tournaments organised by the FIVB. The main goal was not to have a single year without two high-profile world-level volleyball competitions, alongside the pre-existing men's and women's world championship, men's and women's world cup and the volleyball tournament at the Olympic Games which are all quadrennial and the annual men's and women's Nations League.
The Illinois Men's Volleyball Club is a registered student organization at the University of Illinois that plays men's volleyball. This team is composed of students from the University of Illinois and is designated as a club team because the University does not have a varsity men's volleyball team. The club is based at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and is a member of the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. The club is divided into three teams divided according to level of competitiveness. All teams in the club compete only in tournaments and there are no lone matches unless they are specially scheduled. The Illinois Men's Volleyball Club was established in 1984 and quickly became one of the top collegiate men's club volleyball teams in the nation. The team has been ranked among the top ten club teams in the nation since 1997. The club placed third in the nation in 2003, 2005, and 2007 and second in 2004. Additionally, the Illinois Men's Volleyball Club hosts an annual tournament in Champaign, Illinois called the Illini 16 and co-hosts the Hoosier-Illini Classic with Indiana University. Additionally, the club hosted an exhibition match for the Blue and Orange teams for the first time in 2008. The Blue team played Purdue University while the Orange team played Illinois State University.
Long Beach State athletics, or simply Beach athletics, are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Long Beach. Teams compete in 19 sports at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level. Long Beach State is a founding member of the Big West Conference, and also competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Golden Coast Conference for sports not sponsored by the Big West.
Sports in Thailand play a significant role in Thai culture, with both participants and spectators engaging in a wide variety of activities. Muay Thai, a traditional martial art, is deeply ingrained in Thai history and has evolved into national sport. Aside from muay Thai, association football is the most popular sport in Thailand, followed by volleyball and badminton. There is also a diverse range of sports that are also popular throughout the country, including tennis, golf, swimming, athletics, cycling, motorsports, snooker, and sepak takraw, which is one of Thailand's two national sports along with muay Thai. Water sports such as scuba diving, kiteboarding, jet skiing, surfboarding, rafting, sea kayaking, windsurfing, wakeboarding, long boat racing, and long-tail boat racing are also popular among sports tourists and locals alike.
The Michigan State University Men's Volleyball Club was founded in the late 1950s and revived as a registered student organization at Michigan State University in 1987. It is currently a founding member of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association ("MIVA"), and registered with the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation ("NCVF"). The club competes in MIVA organized intercollegiate club competitions throughout the season and the season-ending NCVF National Championships. The club currently has four teams with progressive skill levels—Green, White, Posse, and Greenhorns. Club teams practice at the IM West Sports Arena and participate in a variety of club fundraising and community outreach and supportive activities, like Special Olympics and fundraising for the Greater Lansing Food Bank.
Sport in Paraguay is an important part of national culture. Association football is the most popular sport, while basketball is also very popular. Other sports such as padel, volleyball, futsal, swimming and tennis are popular as well. Other Paraguayan sports and pastimes are rugby union, chess, motorsport, golf and rowing.
The major sports in Venezuela are baseball, basketball and football. Baseball in Venezuela originates with the early 20th century cultural influence of the United States oil companies. The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League was established in 1945. Football in Venezuela lags behind baseball, but its popularity in recent years has grown. Basketball and volleyball are also popular sports; there has been a national basketball league since 1974. The Vuelta a Venezuela is one of six cycling events in the UCI America Tour. The polo club Lechuza Caracas has had some success in North American polo competitions.
The FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The initial gap between championships was variable, but since 1962 they were held every four years. The tournament will be held biennially starting in 2025.
The FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The initial gap between championships was variable, but since 1970 they have been awarded every four years. The tournament will be held biennially starting in 2025.
The FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. Initially the tournament was played in the year following the Olympic Games, except for 1973 when no tournament was held, but since 1991 the World Cup has been awarded in the year preceding the Olympic Games.
The 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup was the inaugural edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup, a new annual men's international volleyball tournament contested by six national teams that acts as a qualifier for the FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League. The tournament was held in Matosinhos, Portugal from 20 to 24 June 2018.
The 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup was the second edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup, an annual men's international volleyball tournament contested by six national teams that acts as a qualifier for the FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League. The tournament was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 3 to 7 July 2019.
