While July will bring the track and field Olympic Trials to Eugene, in late June Oregonians got to witness another national qualifying competition in Seaside.

Teams of two came to the beach and faced off in footvolley tournament play to see who will represent America later this year. The hybrid sport that mixes soccer and beach volleyball will be featured at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro as a demonstration event.

On April 7, Brazilian senator and ambassador of the sport, Romário Faria, released a statement saying, “We will have footvolley during the Olympics and Paralympics this year. But please remain calm. It will be more of a cultural event and not an official competition. Nevertheless it will be an excellent opportunity to present footvolley to the world.”

Rules for the sport follow standard beach volleyball fairly closely.

However, unlike volleyball, players aren’t allowed to use their hands or arms. This is where the soccer influence comes into play, as they put together combinations using their legs, chests and heads. Teams are allowed three touches per possession, and attempt to get the ball over the net and land in their opponents’ boundaries.

Each rally for points begins after one team serves the ball to the other side by kicking it off of a mound of sand on the backline.

Utilizing different parts of the body to control the ball can set up more strategic returns for teammates, as they dive around the court and try keep the ball in the air. Instead of spikes, like in volleyball, the most tactical hit is called a “shark attack, where a player goes upside down in the air to slam the ball down with their foot.

Footvolley was created in Rio in response to their national sport of soccer being banned on the beaches. Players would kick around a ball until police showed up, and then would start volleying it over the net to stay out of trouble.

Eventually, the game caught on and players started setting up boundaries and creating official rules.

Because of the foot skills and juggling it requires, most ootvolley players have a strong background in soccer.

Sergio Menezes, president of the U.S. Footvolley Association and competitor in the weekend tournament, said the organization chose Seaside to show the sport to the Pacific Northwest. “We’ve never had any competitions or events here before and really wanted to plant the seed,” he said.

Teams for the weekend’s tournament came from all across America, including places like: Miami, Santa Cruz, California, and even Washington, D.C., but Menezes’ plan has already started to take root.

One pair of Oregonians made the trip to Seaside and tried out the sport for their first time. Felyx Tsoi and Matt LaPlant are former club soccer players at University of Portland. While still involved in beach matches and pickup games, they found out about footvolley only a week before and decided to give it a shot.

“The community was great, but it’s tough playing a new sport against some top athletes,” said Tsoi.

“Portland is a big soccer city, but it still has room for the sport to grow,” said LaPlant, “We just need more people to get out playing on the beach.”

The qualifying match served as the Northwest’s first taste of footvolley, but with television coverage and exposure expected from the Olympic hype, the sport is poised to grow.