LIFE is all about compromise and boy have the men had to do plenty of that of late.

After years of suffering complaints that they spend Saturday afternoons sitting around watching sport when they could be taking their families out to the seaside, they have finally given in. What is more, the oft-repeated accusations that sport was only for the blokes have been knocked on the head and the chaps have decided to take the women seriously.

For the supposedly rainy city of Manchester has launched the country's first women's beach volleyball team. It may not yet have any opponents, but the search is on to find some.

Yes, apart from the success of Bolton boxer Amir Khan, the big hit of the Olympic Games has been women's beach volleyball.

So much so, in fact, that Middleton-based brewer J W Lees has formed the area's first beach volleyball team at the Rain Bar in Manchester and is appealing for others to join them in competition.

The lack of a local beach is not going to prove a deterrent - artificial sand will be imported - and the men seem keen to catch the action. Indeed, they appear more than happy to help out in setting up a league.

But it's never going to wash, chaps. Let us face it - it is the combination of the women, the sun, the sea and the party atmosphere rather than the sporting prowess of the competitors that has attracted attention.

A spokesMAN for brewer John Willie Lees said: "The inspiration came largely from the Olympics. Most pubs have their darts and dominoes, but as discerning brewers we wanted to do something a little different. We hit upon the idea of beach volleyball." Funny, that.

The brewery says it is currently in talks with organisations about the idea of encouraging the sport.

So, expect your man to broaden his sporting horizons soon.

However, as a little bit of a check as to just how genuine your bloke is in his new found passion, why not ask him a few questions about the sport?

It won't come as much of a surprise to find that he believes the only rules to be that all competitors have to be tall and blonde, and the kit has to comprise of nothing more than a skimpy bikini.

His favourite player is unlikely to be the one demonstrating the most skill, with the team he is cheering doubtless not matching that displaying the most intricate passing movements.

There is also a fair chance that he has no clue whatsoever as to who actually won the Olympic tournament (the USA thrashed Brazil in the final) this week.

So, does this mean that the average bloke is shallow enough to follow a sport just because it features scantily clad athletic women? Probably. Just look at the surge in interest in women's tennis. Men only really started taking it seriously when the outfits became more risque and the competitors concentrated more on their looks than their forearm smash.

Even now, most reports concentrate on what Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova was wearing rather than her performance. Men's tennis reports rarely begin: "Wearing skimpy white shorts and a tight sports t-shirt, and sporting a new cropped hairstyle, Tim Henman..."

Elsewhere, the reporting of women's football is minimal and, even then, patronising.

The athletics, to be fair, receives attention when we have someone capable of making a decent stab at winning, but cricket and golf rarely get a mention and such is the paucity of information on women's rugby that I'm not sure it even exists.

Is that because they don't play, aren't any good or don't fit the profile of the average beach volleyball player?

Even those who actually follow the game - Prime Minister Tony Blair is rumoured to have taken more than a passing interest in the Olympics event - must admit that bringing on 15 dancing girls to entertain the crowds during time-outs is the real reason why beach volleyball has attracted capacity 10,000 crowds in Greece, while, just a mile away, indoor volleyball and its fully clothed competitors have been witnessed by few.

Basically, beach volleyball is like an episode of Baywatch without the rescue.

On the pitch, the American team embraced the beach party atmosphere of the Olympics competition, but some of the others weren't too sure. Australian player Nicole Sanderson said: "It's kind of disrespectful to the female players. I'm sure the male players love it, but I find it a little bit offensive."

Due to injury, Britain, meanwhile, didn't actually manage to find a team to Athens.

Perhaps this region can solve the problem.

FACTFILE:

Beach volleyball was first played in Santa Monica in 1920

In 1927 it was taken up by nudists in the south of France

In 1965 the California Beach Volleyball Association was formed

It was first recognised as an Olympian sport in 1996.