THE HISTORY OF VOLLEYBALL

 

The game of volleyball, originally called “mintonette,” was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan after the invention of basketball only four years before. Morgan, a graduate of the Springfield College of the YMCA, designed the game to be a combination of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball. 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). 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. BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Beach Volleyball originated in Hawaii around 1915, and began to surface in Europe in the 1930s. Competitions became commonplace over the subsequent decades, and the sport increased in popularity considerably during the eighties. A beach volleyball. The sport we know and love. You may be able to tell a legal hand set from a deep dish set from a mile away, but do you know how we got to the point where we can debate such things? The history of the sport goes further back in time than you might think. Read on so you can school your friends on the roots of the greatest game on the planet.