In 1895, William G. Morgan, Director of Physical Education at the Young Men’s Christian Association in Holyoke, Massachusetts, invented a new sport—volleyball. He intended volleyball to be a recreational sport for his older students and businessmen. The game was a combination of the German game of Faustball, basketball (which had only been invented four years earlier), baseball, tennis, and handball. For example, the volleyball net was adopted from tennis and was initially only six and a half feet high. Although it was originally called “mintonette”, this game was soon renamed volleyball because spectators could easily observe that the game involved much volleying of the ball back and forth over the net.
The first game of volleyball was played at Springfield College on July 7, 1896. It was not long before volleyball’s popularity began to spread. In 1900, an official ball was designed for the sport. During the same year the Young Men’s Christian association encouraged volleyball games in Canada, the Southern Hemisphere, and the Orient. Volleyball began to be recognized worldwide very early in its development. In 1907, it was stated at The Playground of America convention that volleyball was one of the most popular recreational sports. Volleyball became even more common when it was officially added to school physical education curriculums and intramural programs in 1916.
The United States Volleyball Association, currently USA Volleyball, was established in 1928 to govern the sport, standardizing rules and encouraging tournaments. They organized the First US Open that year and further included and encouraged players who were not affiliated with the YMCA. In 1934, official referees were recognized to increase fairness by overseeing the games and enforcing the standardized rules. In 1947, the need for a more global governing body was met when the Federation for International Volleyball was established.
In the late 1940’s, a United States recreation study showed that volleyball ranked fifth in promoted and organized team sports. At this time, approximately more than 50 million people were playing volleyball internationally, in over 60 different countries. Volleyball continued to grow and develop as a competitive sport. One way the game branched out was through the development of beach volleyball. The first beach volleyball tournament was held in 1948, but the first beach volleyball association, the California Beach Volleyball Association, did not form until 1965. Eventually, in 1996, two-man beach volleyball became an Olympic sport.
Volleyball became part of major international competitions. In 1949, the first World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The International Olympic Committee of 1957 chose volleyball as an Olympic team sport that would be included in the 1964 Olympic Games. In 1983, the Association of Volleyball professionals formed and incorporated beach volleyball professionals. The following year, the United States won their first volleyball Olympic medals. The men won the gold medal, and the women won the silver medal.
In 1986, the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association formed. Although this association dissolved in 1998, it can be attributed with further increasing the professional interest of both sexes.
Although it has a fascinating history, volleyball is still a young sport at just over one hundred years old. It continues to develop technically and strategically and increase in popularity. Today more than 800 people worldwide play volleyball regularly. 46 million of them are Americans. Globally, volleyball ranks second to soccer in participation sports.
