On February 9, 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts (USA), William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education director, created a new game called Mintonette as a pastime to be played (preferably) indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles (sixteen kilometers) away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette was designed to be an indoor sport, less rough than basketball, for older members of the YMCA, while still requiring a bit of athletic effort. The first rules, written down by William G Morgan, called for a net 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) high, a 25 ft × 50 ft (7.6 m × 15.2 m) court, and any number of players. A match was composed of nine innings with three serves for each team in each inning, and no limit to the number of ball contacts for each team before sending the ball to the opponents’ court. In case of a serving error, a second try was allowed. Hitting the ball into the net was considered a foul (with loss of the point or a side-out)—except in the case of the first-try serve.
After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896, played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College), the game quickly became known as volleyball (it was originally spelled as two words: „volley ball“). Volleyball rules were slightly modified by the International YMCA Training School and the game spread around the country to various YMCAs.
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team’s court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964. A scene of volleyball play in an Erwadi village.The complete rules are extensive. But simply, play proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a ‚rally‘ by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team’s court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.
The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either (1): a team makes a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent’s court and winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault and loses the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:
• causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents‘ court or without first passing over the net; • catching and throwing the ball; • double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player; • four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team; • net foul: touching the net during play; • foot fault: the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving.The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body. A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.
(Wikipedia)
Worldwide Growth
The physical education directors of the YMCA, encouraged particularly by two professional schools of physical education, Springfield college in Massachusetts and George Williams College in Chicago (now at Downers Grove, Illinois), adopted volleyball in all its societies throughout the United States, Canada (in 1900 Canada became the first foreign country to adopt the game), and also in many other countries: Elwood S. Brown in the Philippines (1910), J. Howard Crocker in China, Franklin H. Brown in Japan (1908), Dr. J.H. Gray in Burma, in China and in India, and others in Mexico and South American, European and African countries.
By 1913 the development of volleyball on the Asian continent was assured as, in that year, the game was included in the programme of the first Far-Eastern Games, organized in Manila. It should be noted that, for a long time, Volleyball was played in Asia according to the "Brown" rules which, among other things, used 16 players (to enable a greater participation in matches).
An indication of the growth of volleyball in the United States is given in an article published in 1916 in the Spalding Volleyball Guide and written by Robert C. Cubbon. In that article Cubbon estimated that the number of players had reached a total of 200,000 people subdivided in the following way: in the YMCA (boys, young men, and older men) 70,000, in the YWCA (girls and women) 50,000, in schools (boys and girls) 25,000 and in colleges (young men) 10,000.
In 1916, the YMCA managed to induce the powerful National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to publish its rules and a series of articles, contributing to the rapid growth of volleyball among young college students. In 1918 the number of players per team was limited to six, and in 1922 the maximum number of authorized contacts with the ball was fixed at three.
Until the early 1930s volleyball was for the most part a game of leisure and recreation, and there were only a few international activities and competitions. There were different rules of the game in the various parts of the world; however, national championships were played in many countries (for instance, in Eastern Europe where the level of play had reached a remarkable standard).
Volleyball thus became more and more a competitive sport with high physical and technical performance.
Volleyball has been around for over 125 years! Like basketball, volleyball was invented in the United States in a YMCA. William G Morgan is the man who created the sport of Mintonette, today known as volleyball. The sport was created February 9th, 1895 and is a combination of handball, basketball, tennis and baseball and was originally designed as a sport for business men who were looking for a less contact heavy sport than basketball. Volleyball History
Volleyball was first invented in the United States at a YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts by a man named William G. Morgan. This was in the year 1895 and the sport was originally named Mintonette. Inspiration for the sport came from a combination of tennis, basketball, baseball and handball.
Soon after a fan watching a game proclaimed that a more appropriate name for the sport would be volleyball as the teams seemed to volley back and forth over the net. This spectator was a professor at a neighboring college in the state, he proposed the name “volleyball” and it stuck. The first official rules for the sport were printed a few years later in the YMCA’s rule book in 1897.
Though volleyball was invented in the USA it only just recently got to be as popular in North America and The United States as it is in the rest of the world. There are over 46 million people in the United States who play the sport of volleyball regularly. In comparison over 800 million people around the world play the sport on a weekly basis.
What Year Was Volleyball Invented?
Volleyball was invented February 9th, 1895 by a man in a Massachusetts YMCA. William G. Morgan was looking for a sport for businessman who didn’t want to play a contact sport. Concepts for volleyball were taken from multiple other sports including basketball, tennis, handball, and baseball. At the time volleyballs themselves didn’t exist and the first game was played with
Timeline Of Volleyball
Let’s break down the history of volleyball and some of the biggest events over the last decade and a half. The sport has changed quite a bit since it was invented over 125 years ago. Here are some main events that led to the popularity of the sport
1895- The sport of Mintonette was invented in the United States
1896- The sport is renamed volleyball
1900- The first volleyball was invented exclusively for the sport
1916- Variations of the set and hit were added to the game
1920- Beach Volleyball is invented in California
1920- Rules were amended to three hits per side and back row attacking
1928- USAV was formed to facilitate rules
1948- The first beach volleyball tournament with 2 player teams was held
1949- The first ever world championship was held for volleyball
1964- Indoor volleyball was added to the Olympic Games
1978- The AVP was created
1996- 2 player beach volleyball was added as an Olympic sport
2001- rules ammended did away with side out scoring replacing it with rally
2020- Today volleyball is 125 years old and is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. It is currently the 3rd most popular sport in the world and boys volleyball is the fastest growing sport in North America.
How Many People Play Volleyball In The World?
Today over 800 million people play the sport of volleyball across the world!
What Countries Is Volleyball Played In?
Volleyball is played in all 195 countries in the world! Top places where volleyball is popular include Brazil, Russia, Poland, The United States of America, France, Italy, Germany and Japan. Volleyball is played in every country in the world! Check out our complete list of popular volleyball countries below.
Where Are The Best Volleyball Teams In The World
Currently the best teams in the world as ranked by the FIVB are Brazil, Poland, Russia, France and USA. These teams have all been dominant for quite some time and are volleyball power houses in the world. These 5 countries put out some of the best volleyball players in the sport.
| 1 | Brazil |
| 2 | Poland |
| 3 | Russia |
| 4 | France |
| 5 | USA |
| 6 | Slovenia |
| 7 | Serbia |
| 8 | Argentina |
| 9 | Italy |
| 10 | Canada |
| 11 | Japan |
| 12 | Iran |
| 13 | Cuba |
| 14 | Germany |
| 15 | Netherlands |
| 16 | Tunisia |
| 17 | Egypt |
| 18 | Bulgaria |
| 19 | Korea |
| 20 | Belgium |
Where Did Volleyball Originally Come From?
Volleyball was originally invented in a YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts by an employee looking to give business professionals a less contact heavy sport to play. Many were complaining about how rough of a sport basketball could be and were seeking an alternative. Volleyball, originally known as Mitonette, took elements from tennis, basketball, baseball and handball yielding a unique new sport.