9-man

9-man (also nine-man, nineman, 9man) is a volleyball team sport utilizing nine players per side and a slightly larger court (10 by 20 meters).

Historically, the sport was played by Chinese immigrants to the US, who predominantly hailed from Toisan (Taishan) city in Guangdong province of China.

Teams from Boston and Providence, RI held the first organized nine-man tournament in 1938, which later spread to Chinatowns in other large US and Canadian cities.

[2] The North American version of 9-Man continues to grow today with a popular rotating tournament called the NACIVT[2] uniting thousands of players and spectators each September over Labor Day weekend.

The sport has not made a reappearance in the Asian Games since, and many believe that the rules of nine-man are exclusive to the community that plays in North America.

The sport is the subject of an award-winning documentary called 9-Man that was completed in 2014 and had its world premiere at IFFBoston on April 27, 2014, at 1pm.

NACIVT rules stipulate that at any given time, each team must have at least six players of "100 percent" Chinese descent on the court.

The fai-gok or fastball is typically the centermost position in the offense that has a signature move resembling a basketball dunk.

The tournament is generally held outdoors and played on pavement, with the courts typically set-up in a large parking lot or even on the streets.

In 2009, a team from Shanghai was invited to participate in the Los Angeles NACIVT, and the players who were only familiar with six-person volleyball played with 9-man rules for the first time.

Each year there are also mini tournaments held in Toronto, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco leading up to the annual NACIVT.

Generally it is held in mid-July with teams participating from Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Toronto, Montreal and North Carolina.