History Of Volleyball

Volleyball is a sport in which there are two teams comprising of six players on each side, who are separated by a net in between them. The teams try to score points over each other by grounding the ball on the other team's court. Like other games, in volleyball too there are certain rules that need to be followed. One of the important rule of this game states that a team can make contact with the ball a maximum of three times, before the ball passes onto the other team's court.

 

Volleyball uses some very common techniques, like, spiking, passing, blocking and setting. Like football, there are special positions available for players, like offensive and defensive. One needs good vertical jumping skills in order to play volleyball well, because players need to jump above the net many a times to make contact with the ball. In recent times, there have been many variations of volleyball that have cropped up. Read on to find out more about the history and origin of the game of volleyball.

 

William G. Morgan, who was a YMCA physical education director in Holyoke, Massachusetts, created a new game called Mintonette, in 1895. This was a game which was to be played indoors and by any number of players. The game of Mintonette took some of its features from tennis and handball. During the same time, the game of basketball was catching up in the same area. 

 

Subsequently, Morgan wrote the first rules for the game which said that the court should be 6ft 6in. high and 25x50 ft² in size. The rules also stated that any number of players could play this game. A mintonette match had nine innings with three serves for each team in a particular inning. There were no limits to the number of times a team can make contact with the ball. Unlike the present day volleyball, hitting the net with the ball was considered a foul except in the case of a first serve.

 

After Alfred Halstead noticed the nature of the game in 1896, which was to volley the ball towards the other team, the game came to be known as volleyball. Later, the rules of the volleyball were modified by the International YMCA Training School and the game spread around the United States and to various other YMCAs as well. It is still not clear as to who created the first official ball that was used in the game. According to some sources, the first official ball was created by Spalding in the year 1896, while others claim it was created in 1900. The rules of the game have also developed in time.

 

It was in the year 1916 that the skill of set and spike was introduced to the game. Subsequently, four years later, the three hits rule and back row hitting were established as well. The first country, apart from United States which adopted volleyball was Canada, in the year 1900. The Federation Internationale de Volleyball was founded in 1947 while the first ever World Championship was held in 1949 for men and in 1952 for women. Volleyball is now widely recognized and played in many countries like Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, China and in Asia as well.

 

In the 1924 Paris Olympics, volleyball was played as a part of the American sports demonstration event. After FIVB was founded, volleyball began to be considered for official inclusion in the Olympics. Volleyball was successfully included as a sport in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The number of teams that participate in the volleyball Olympic tournament have increased with time. Since 1996, both men's and women's events have twelve participating nations.

 

The U.S.S.R won the title of men's volleyball during the years 1964 and 1968, while in 1972 it was Japan who bagged the gold medal. As far as women's competition is concerned, Japan won the gold medal for the same in 1964 and again in 1976. In the year 2000, there were certain amendments and changes that were implemented in the game. These include, allowing serves in which the ball touches the net, as long as it goes over it in to the other team's court. The service area was also expanded, which allowed players to serve from anywhere behind the end line..

 

There is another variation of the game called the beach volleyball which is played. The beach volleyball found its place in the 1996 Summer Olympics as well.

 

Volleyball has inspired numerous variations of the game, some of which are:

Important Dates and Events in Volleyball History: