There is no question that soccer is the most popular sport in the land of the “beautiful game” and gets most of the attention. However, there are several others that, although not anything on the same level as what the Seleção experiences, have their own fans, leagues, tournaments and general interest as well. Volleyball is the second most popular sport in the country probably because the men’s and women’s national teams have seen quite a bit of success. Both teams have recently been Olympic and World champions and the men’s team is currently ranked as the top team in the world. There are other popular variants of the indoor game such as footvolley, which combines volleyball with soccer juggling, and beach volleyball being the most popular. We saw a new version that we had never encountered before which was river volley. The group of kids made a court with foam floats and rope and erected the poles and a net into the riverbed. With the summer heat continually pushing 100 degrees, making the popular activity into a water sport is completely understandable.
Tem horas que é difícil acreditar na criatividade brasileira. É demais mesmo!!! Num calor de 42ºC, de um lado tinha um rio, do outro alguns meninos com uma grande idéia. Num piscar de olhos, eles trouxeram uma rede, e alí mesmo montaram a mini quadra e tinhamos o mais novo esporte: Volei de Rio. Ao mesmo tempo que eles se refrescavam, eles jogavam e aproveitavam como nunca. Estavámos almoçando num restaurante em frente então, pudemos observar desde a montagem da quadra até os belos tombos na água. Até o cachorro ficava alí no meio deles. O Volei de piscina nós já conheciamos, mas agora o Volei de rio, não podemos mentir que foi inovador para a nossa lista de esportes, tomará que a moda pegue porque parecia muito divertido.
Especially in Brazil, with many poor kids on the streets, to survive in poor scenarios requires plenty of creative thinking and you get what you see: fun times with no much attire, friends and a good laugh !