Volleyball History

Many Americans do not realize just how popular volleyball is worldwide. It ranks in the top three for recreational and competitive sports (the only sport which is definitely ahead of it is soccer, or football, which soars above all other sports throughout the world). Ironically, it was in the US, where the sport still lags behind in popularity relative to the rest of the world, that volleyball was invented.

Mintonette mania!

The year was 1895, and at a YMCA in Holyoke, Mass., William G. Morgan came up with the game (originally called mintonette) as a combination of baseball, soccer, tennis, and basketball (which had been formally invented only four years before, although many scholars date the basic idea of basketball to the times of the ancient Aztecs). The name was changed to volleyball the following year when Springfield College hosted the first match under this new moniker.

World domination

The first quarter of the 20th century saw an explosion in interest in volleyball. The sport spread through North and South America, and then to Europe and Asia. In 1913, only 18 years after having been invented, volleyball was a part of the Far Eastern Games. Three years later, in the Phillipines, the set-and-spike offense style was developed, and to this day that remains a staple of volleyball play.

Getting organized

In 1928, The United States Volleyball Association (now called USA Volleyball) was formed to give structure to the sport and to create organized tournaments. A few years later, this organization and others officially recognized volleyball referees as an integral part of the game. 1949 saw the first World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

The 60s

The 1960s was a huge decade for volleyball. Team volleyball became an Olympic sport beginning with the 1964 games in Tokyo. The following year, the beach variation of the sport became organized with the California Beach Volleyball Association. Two-man beach volleyball would become an Olympic sport in 1996.

Silver and gold

The US Volleyball teams have done exceptionally well in Olympic play. In the 1984 games, the men's team won the gold, while the women's team took home silver. The men's team repeated the feat in the 1988 Olympics. American men won gold in the first two Olympic Beach Volleyball games in 1996 and 2000.

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