History of Volleyball

The start of the game

In 1895, at Holyoke YMCA gymnasium in Massachusetts, USA, William G. Morgan, the son of a Welsh immigrant, created a new game called 'Minonette' in which an inflated basketball bladder was batted between two teams over a rope.

The ball had to played cleanly with no catching, holding or throwing. Morgan felt that basketball was too physical for a variety of people of different levels of fitness to play. He also wanted a simple game which could be played anywhere.

At first, minonette had nine players in three rows of three per side. Team rotation gave everyone the chance to play in all positions throughout a game.

The original playing area was 15.24 metres by 7.62 metres (50 feet by 25 feet) and was divided by a net (which replaced the rope) at a height of about 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches).

At the 1896 YMCA Conference the name of the game was changed to volleyball. Later, the net height was raised to 2.28 metres (7 feet 6 inches) and teams were reduced to six players. The court sizes were reduced and a specific ball for volleyball, smaller and lighter was introduced.

Playing skills developed and soon the current mode of play, receive, set, pass, smash, was in place (this mode of play is just the most common, it is not the only way of playing allowed by the rules).

The spread of the game

American troops introduced the sport to western Europe after they arrived in France in 1918, and it was soon played in England aswell. It spread worldwide, largely due to the YMCA movement, and has become very popular in Japan and Russia. By then it was seen as both a sport aswell as being played for fun.

In 1936, during the Berlin Olympics, there was an attempt to form an organisation for volleyball. Representatives from 22 countries met, and the first international volleyball tournament was at the World University Games in 1939.

Before the onset of the Second World War, Czechoslovakia, France, and Poland all had national associations for volleyball. During the war, many soldiers played it as training and for recreation, and it was also played in prison camps.

In 1946, France played Czechoslovakia in Paris, in what was the first post-war international match. The president of the Polish Volleyball Association was there, and there were talks of forming an international governing body.

In April 1947, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was formed with its headquarters in Paris, with 14 founder members. Belgium, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Uruguay, the United States, and Yugoslavia.

The first World Championships for men were held in Prague, in the then Czechoslovakia, and was won by the Soviet Union. The first women's championships were held in 1952, and were also won by the Soviet Union. Since 1962, the championships have been held every four years.

Volleyball was added to list of recognised sports by the International Olympic Committee in 1957. In 1964 it first appeared in the Tokyo Games in Japan.

Volleyball

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