How was volleyball invented?

Introduction 

      Do you love volleyball? I do! I want to play on a team when I get older because my mom and stepmom and stepbrother played volleyball, so I want to play, too.

      You don't need a lot of special equipment to play volleyball and you can start learning it anytime. I play with my sister with a net we have outside, and I'm excited to keep learning and practicing so I can play on a team someday.

   If you want to find out more information about the game of volleyball and how it was invented, keep reading!

"Mintonette"

     So how was volleyball invented? 

     Did you know that volleyball used to be called by a completely different name? In the year 1895, a man named William G. Morgan invented a new game that he called “Mintonette." 

    Mintonette was inspired by two other sports of basketball and tennis. When William Morgan went to school at Springfield College, he met James Naismith. James Naismith invented the sport of basketball at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891, so William Morgan was one of the first people in the world to play basketball.

    A few years later in 1895, William Morgan was working as the director of physical education at the YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He needed to develop and run a program of exercise and sport classes.

     The new game of basketball was becoming very popular especially with young adults. William Morgan also noticed that basketball was a very physical contact sport that sometimes had violent collisions. So he was looking for a new game that was less physical and less violent. He wanted a fun and exciting game that could be safely played by people of all ages and skills, but that also gave you lots of exercise at the same time.

    That is what led William Morgan to create "Mintonette."

Inspired by Tennis

     While he was trying to find a new game, William Morgan also thought about another game that was already popular: tennis. Tennis was a fun sport, but there were some problems that made it not work out for his exercise and sport classes. 

     First, you need extra equipment for tennis, like a racquet, tennis balls, and a tennis net. Second, tennis was best played outside because it took up a lot of space, so it wasn't a good sport to play during winter time or bad weather. Finally, only two people played in a tennis game, and he wanted a sport that his whole class could play at the same time.

       So he didn't choose tennis for his classes, but the game of tennis did inspire him to invent a brand new game using a net.

The Invention of Volleyball

     For his new game, William Morgan raised the height of a tennis net to about 6 feet 6 inches above the ground. This was just above the head of most adult men. Instead of one person on each side of the net like in tennis, a whole team of players could be on each side. So his whole class could play.

    Next, players would hit the ball with their arms and hands so you did not need a racquet. He also decided that the ball couldn't bounce or hit the ground after it went over the net.

A Brand New Ball

     Finally, William Morgan needed to find a ball that would work because a tennis ball was too small. At first, he tried using a basketball bladder. A basketball bladder is the inside part of a basketball. It's kind of like a thick balloon that gets filled up with air. The problem with the basketball bladder was that it was too slow and too light.

     So next William Morgan tried using a regular basketball. But the basketball was too big and too heavy, so if you bumped it or set it, the basketball could hurt your hands and arms or give you bruises.

    The Spaulding Company had a factory in a nearby town, so William Morgan asked the factory workers to design a new ball for his new game. The ball had to be between 25 and 27 inches wide and weigh between 9 and 12 ounces. That is about the size of a basketball, but much lighter.

     Now that his classes had the right kind of ball, they could play the game that William Morgan called "Mintonette."

    An observer named Alfred Halsted saw “Mintonette” being played, and he noticed that the game had a volleying action to get the ball over the net. So it was decided to change the name from  “Mintonette” to “volleyball,” and that’s how volleyball was invented!

Volleyball History

    The rules have been changed since William Morgan invented the game of volleyball in 1895. At first volleyball was mostly played just as a fun and relaxing activity and not as a competitive sport. There were only a few world competitions.

      The game of volleyball started to spread to other places around the United States. In 1900 it started to be played in Canada. By 1913, volleyball was becoming an accepted sport played in Asia. Volleyball was included in the Far-Eastern Games, which are like Olympics for the Asian countries.

     As the sport spread around the world, people started to add new ways to play the sport. For example, in the country of the Philippines, a new way to hit the ball was created in 1916. One player would pass the ball up high in the air. Another player would punch the ball down hard over the net. This new play was called the set and spike, and it is still used today.

   To keep improving the rules and spreading the game, volleyball was added to the physical education programs in schools and colleges. In 1947 an organization called the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) was created to oversee volleyball worldwide.

The Olympics

        Volleyball continued to grow more and more popular as a sport all around the world. The game of volleyball finally made it to the Olympics as both a men's sport and women's sport at the Tokyo Olympic games in 1964.

      The Soviet Union/Russia has won the most Olympic medals, winning a total of 8 gold medals, 7 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals. Brazil is next, with 5 golds, 4 silvers, and 2 bronzes. The United States is third, winning the gold medal 4 times, the silver medal 3 times, and the bronze medal 4 times.

     In 1996, the sport of beach volleyball was added to the Olympics games played in Atlanta. 

How Popular is Volleyball

     The sport of volleyball started in the United States of America. Today there are about 46 million Americans who play volleyball.

   It has become even more popular in other countries. Along with soccer, cricket, and basketball, volleyball is one of the most popular sports that is played all around the world. 

    Today, about 800 million people in the world play volleyball at least once a month. The FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) is a group that represents volleyball leagues and clubs all around the world. 

Why is Volleyball So Popular?

     You can play volleyball in a gym, outside, or at the playground. You can play volleyball on a family vacation at the beach, or at a summer picnic with your friends and family. People of all ages, young and old, can play volleyball together.

     Volleyball can be played as just a relaxing activity. Or it can be an intense competitive sport played by high school teams, college teams, and in the Olympics

     Volleyball is a very active and fun sport to play. All of these reasons make volleyball one of the most popular sports in the world. I think you’ll love volleyball as much as I do!