With just under 500 days left before the Summer Olympics in London, the qualification process has begun in earnest. Though U.S. volleyball teams are always among the best in the world, the process of qualifying for the Olympics is always a daunting challenge, especially on the indoor side.
Unlike beach volleyball in which world rankings over a period of time can qualify a pair for the Games, indoor qualification requires performing well at precisely the right times. The FIVB has chosen specific tournaments in which winning or placing in the top three earns you a spot in London.
If our teams don't grab a spot early, they'll find themselves with their backs against the wall and the pressure mounting. When your Olympic dreams rest on your fate in the only remaining qualifying tournament, you have to rise to the occasion or watch the opportunity of a lifetime slip through your fingers.
American teams have come close to the wire before, but the last time we failed to qualify was way back in 1976 for both the men's and women's teams. The U.S. boycotted the 1980 Olympics and in 1996 we were automatically qualified as the host country.
There will be 24 Beach Volleyball teams and 12 Indoor Volleyball teams per gender that qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Only one of those spots is filled as of now - Great Britain gets the automatic bid as the host country. British teams will be playing in their first ever indoor Olympics competition and their first Olympic Beach competition since 1996.
The qualification process for beach volleyball has changed recently to allow National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to have more of a say in which teams represent their country in London. So let's take a look at what our teams will have to do to qualify for the Olympics and examine where we stand among the world's elite teams.
A Look at the Teams: