Volleyball

History

The game of volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G.Morgan after the invention of basketball only four years before. It was originally called “mintonette”. Morgan, a graduate of Springfield College of the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association), designed the game to be a combination of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball. The objective was to create a game for his classes that would have less physical contact than basketball.

The first volleyball net, borrowed from tennis, was only 6’6″ high (though you need to remember that the average American was shorter in the nineteenth century).

The team took this new game around the world and introduced a uniquely American sport to many distant lands. In 1916, the Philippines made its own contribution to volleyball by introducing an element of offense that would change the game forever. A receiving player would pass a ball in a high trajectory that would then be struck by another player. The set and spike were born.

The offensive style of setting and spiking was first demonstrated in the Philippines in 1916. In the next years, it became clear that standard rules were needed for tournament play, so the USVBA (United States VolleyBall Association) was formed in 1928.

Two years later, the first two-man beach volleyball game was played, though the professional side of the sport did not emerge until much later. Not surprisingly, the first beach volleyball association appeared in California (1965), and the professional players united under the auspices of the AVP (American Volleyball Professionals) in 1983.

The sport was officially included in the program for the 1964 Summer Olympics.Beach volleyball, a variation of the game played on sand and with only two players per team, became a FIVB-endorsed variation in 1987 and was added to the Olympic program at the 1996 Summer Olympics.Volleyball is also a sport at the Paralympics managed by the World Organization Volleyball for Disabled. 

During the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, American men and women took gold and silver medals in indoor volleyball competitions. Four years later at the Olympics in Korea, the men once again scored gold. Two-man beach volleyball was officially introduced to the Olympics in 1996. Today, there are more than 800 million volleyball players around the world.

 

Significant Volleyball Events – A Timeline

 

• In 1895, William G. Morgan, an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Holyoke, decided to blend elements of basketball, baseball, tennis and handball to create a game for his classes of businessmen which would demand less physical contact than basketball. He created the game of Volleyball (at that time called mintonette).

• Morgan borrowed the net from tennis and raised it 6 feet 6 inches above the floor, just above the average man's head. During a demonstration game, someone remarked to Morgan that the players seemed to be volleying the ball back and forth over the net, and perhaps "volleyball" would be a more descriptive name for the sport.

• In 1896, July 7th -  at Springfield College the first game of "volleyball" was played.

• In 1900, a special ball was designed for the sport.

• In 1916, in the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory to be struck by another player (the set and spike) were introduced.

• In 1917, the game was changed from 21 to 15 points.

• In 1920, three hits per side and back row attack rules were instituted.

• In 1922, the first YMCA national championships were held in Brooklyn, NY. Twenty-seven teams from 11 states were represented.

• In 1928, it became clear that tournaments and rules were needed, so the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA, now USA Volleyball) was formed. The first U.S. Open was staged, as the field was open to non-YMCA squads.

• In 1930, the first two-man beach game was played.

• In 1934, national volleyball referees were approved and recognized.

• In 1937, at the AAU convention in Boston, action was taken to recognize

• the U.S. Volleyball Association as the official national governing body in the U.S.

• In 1947, the Federation Internationale De Volley-Ball (FIVB) was founded.

• In 1948, the first two-man beach tournament was held.

• In 1949, the initial World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

• In 1964, volleyball was introduced to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

• In 1965, the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) was formed.

• In 1974, the World Championships in Mexico were telecast in Japan.

• In 1975, the U.S. National Women’s team began a year-round training regime in Pasadena, Texas (moved to Colorado Springs in 1979, Coto de Caza and Fountain Valley, CA, in 1980, and San Diego, CA, in 1985).

• In 1977, the U.S. National Men’s Team began a year-round training regime in Dayton, Ohio (moved to San Diego, CA, in 1981).

• In 1983, the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) was formed.

• In 1984, the U.S. won their first medals at the Olympics in Los Angeles. The men won the gold, and the women the silver.

• In 1986, the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA) was formed.

• In 1988, the U.S. men repeated the gold in the Olympics in Korea.

• In 1990, the World League was created.

• In 1995, the sport of volleyball was 100 years old!

• In 1996, two-person beach volleyball became an Olympic sport.

• In 1997, Dain Blanton (with Canyon Ceman) becomes the first African-American professional beach volleyball player to win a tournament on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour.

• In 1998, for the first time in the FIVB World Tour, men and women players are rewarded at the same level with $170,000 in total prize money per Open event.

• In 1999 for the first time beach volleyball was included in the Pan American Games which were held in Canada.

• In 2002, Beach volleyball court dimensions reduced to 8m x 8m per side.

• In 2003, Karch Kiraly becomes the first player to earn US$3M in prize money and oldest player to win an AVP tournament at age 42 years, 9 months and 14 days. (You're never too old for volleyball!)

• In 2008, Hot Winter Nights, a series of 19 events in January and February, kicks off in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma marking the first ever indoor beach volleyball tour. Mark Williams and Nancy Mason are the first winners in the "King of the Beach format" events.

• In 2015, the sport is 120 years old.

 

Sources: "Volleyball Centennial : The First 100 Years", Byron Shewman. 1996.;