Volleyball History - When Did It Start?

Volleyball is a very popular volleyball drills today. There are many intramural teams and also competitive teams around the world. But, when and where did this popular sport begin? The history of volleyball is fascinating, it is interesting to see it's humble beginnings and the changes that it experienced through the years.

The man that invented volleyball is named William G Morgan. He was a sports instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association, also volleyball drills as YMCA. Originally the YMCA introduced a new sport that we know today as basketball. Morgan saw that the physical contact of basketball along with the fast pace tired the older businessmen that enjoyed participating in the games. So, he created a new sport with less contact and less court movement which he called "mintonette." This game eventually turned into the game of volleyball.

Morgan played the game with members of YMCA for about a year before he decided to present it to a group of YMCA physical education directors. In 1896 the game of mintonette was presented to the directors and they suggested that he change the name to "volley ball" since the game consisted of vollying the ball back and forth over the net. The first official volleyball game was playing on July 7, 1896 at Springfield College.

The history of volleyball shows that Morgan's original game of mintonette resembled the game of badminton. It was played on a rectangular court with a net across the center of the court. The teams were split up so that there was not contact with the other team at all-- each team was placed on either side of the net. Players would use their hands to beat the ball back and forth over the net. The ball would continue to be in play until it was missed and hit the floor. Points could be earned when the opposite team could not return the ball.

As volleyball history continued, the rules changed slightly and became more defined. Officials with YMCA created a rule book that included details about the court size, ball size, and scoring system. It eventually morphed into what we know as volleyball today.

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