Volleyball is a sport that was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan. He is the physical director of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), which is located in Holyoke, Massachusetts. This sport was created when a businessman created the indoor game of volleyball due to thinking basketball was a really strong sport. Morgan called the sport “mintonette” until a professor started calling it “volleyball” after noting the volley of the nature that the sport was about. Morgan originally wrote the rules in the Official Handbook of the Athletic League of the Young Men’s Christian Association of North America in 1897. This sport was proven to be a wide appeal for both genders in school sports and playgrounds, and more organizations in the United States.
In 1916, the rules of volleyball ended up being established and issued together by the YMCA and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In 1922, the first-ever volleyball tournament was created by the National YMCA Physical Education Committee in New York. In 1928, the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) was created. This association was known as the rule-making governing body of volleyball in the United States. After 1928, the UVSBA, now known as the USAV (United States Volleyball), created a national men’s and senior men’s championship until around 1944 and 1945. A few years after that, they started the women’s division in 1949, then the senior women’s program was added in 1977. Then, years after that, they started including and introducing more championships with the help of USAV, NCAA, and YMCA.
During World War One, the American troops introduced Europe to volleyball when more national organizations were formed. Later in 1947, an association was organized by Paris (FIVB), and then it moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1984. The USVBA was one of the first 13 charter members, which led to 210 member countries joining by the 20th century. An international volleyball competition was created in 1913 with the first Far East Games in Manila. In the early 1900s and even continuing during World War 2, the sport moved to Asia where there started being bigger courts, lower nets, and on a team with at least 9 people.
The FIVB sponsored the world volleyball championships for men in 1949, then later on for women in 1952, and for many years from then. This led to the acceptance of standardized playing rules and officiating. This led to the sport of volleyball becoming an Olympic sport for both genders in the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games.
Later on, European championships ended up being long dominated by places like Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, and more. At the world title, the Soviet Union was earning more titles in both men’s and women’s leagues. Their successes lead to bigger things like widespread grassroots interest and well-organized plays and instruction at their skill level. A Japanese women’s team took a big toll on things after becoming Olympic champions in 1964, and took a turn for the worse on the young men’s teams and more. After more encouragement from the women’s teams, the Japanese women’s and other women’s teams made it to be Olympic champions in 1962, 1966, and 1967. Then, after those years, more and more people found themselves enjoying this sport and put themselves in more championships. It even made it to the point where they created beach volleyball, which was originally played in Australia and more sunny places, and continues to make great championships, and so fun to play.
