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In 2003, the sport of Volleyball is 108 years old!
The sport originated in the United States, and is now just achieving the type
of popularity in the U.S. that it has received on a global basis, where it ranks
behind only soccer among participation sports.
Today there are more than 46 million Americans who play volleyball. There are
800 million players worldwide who play volleyball at least once a week.
In 1895, William G. Morgan, an instructor at the Young Men's Christian
Association (YMCA) in Holyoke, Mass., 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. On July 7, 1896 at
Springfield College the first game of "volleyball" was played.
Volleyball Timeline
- 1895: William G. Morgan created the game of volleyball.
- 1900: a special ball was designed for the sport.
- 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.
- 1917: the game was changed from 21 to 15 points.
- 1920: three hits per side and back row attack rules were
instituted.
- 1922: the first YMCA national championships were held in Brooklyn,
NY. 27 teams from 11 states were represented.
- 1928: it became clear that tournaments and rules were needed, 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.
- 1930: the first two-man beach game was played.
- 1934: the approval and recognition of national volleyball referees.
- 1937: at the AAU convention in Boston, action was taken to
recognize the U.S. Volleyball Association as the official National Governing
Body (NGB) in the U.S.
- 1947: the Federation Internationale De Volley-Ball (FIVB) was
founded.
- 1948: the first two-man beach tournament was held.
- 1949: the initial World Championships were held in Prague,
Czechoslovakia.
- 1964: Volleyball was introduced to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
- 1965: the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) was
formed.
- 1974: the World Championships in Mexico were telecast in Japan.
- 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).
- 1977: the U.S. National Men's team began a year-round training
regime in Dayton, Ohio (moved to San Diego, CA in 1981).
- 1983: the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) was formed.
- 1984: the U.S. won their first medals at the Olympics in Los
Angeles. The Men won the Gold, and the Women the Silver.
- 1986: the Women's Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA) was
formed.
- 1988: the U.S. Men repeated the Gold in the Olympics in Korea.
- 1989: the FIVB Sports Aid Program was created.
- 1990: the World League was created.
- 1995: the sport of Volleyball was 100 years old!
- 1996: 2-person beach volleyball debuted as an Olympic Sport.
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