How To Understand the History of Volleyball

To understand the history of volleyball and it's quick rise to fame, one has to thank the YMCA.  The YMCA started in 1844 London at the end of the Industrial Revolution.  Men had come to the cities from the rural communities seeking industrial work, and the YMCA offered them a safe place compared to the dangerous streets.  The YMCA started bible study groups but soon addressed the social needs of the communities as well.  As the history of the YMCA flourished, so flourished the history of volleyball and basketball, racquetball, softball, and professional football.  Visit the following link to read how the YMCA contributed so much to the rise of many sports.

www.ymca.net/about_the_ymca/history_of_the_ymca.html

At a young age of 25, William Morgan, a Physical Education student at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield (now known as Springfield College) and instructor at the YMCA in Holyoke, Mass., had been searching for an indoor team sport that his older members at the YMCA could play in the cold winter months.  The sport he needed would require athletic skill but wouldn't be as vigorous and have less physical contact than the game of basketball, which was invented 4 years earlier by an influential colleague, James Naismith, a physical education teacher at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield.

In 1895, Morgan combined elements from several known sports at the time to create a game he named "Mintonette" as a close relation to the game of badminton.  The first game of volleyball was played on July 7th in 1896 at the YMCA International Training School.  Alfred Halstead was one of the original observers of the game and called it volley ball.  The name stuck.

The rules of the first game in 1895 were somewhat different than the game we know today.  The first games allowed an unlimited amount of men on the court with unlimited hits of the ball as long as it didn't touch the floor.  The first games were played with the rubber bladder from inside the basketball until 1896 when Spalding made the first official volleyball.  By 1900, the size and weight of the ball was established and is still true today.  The original net was set at 6'6", just over a man's head, but today the net is just under 8' for men and 7' for women.

The YMCA brought the game of volleyball to Canada first in 1900, and then spread it throughout Europe, Asia, and South America.

Knowing the history of volleyball leaves us to question Morgan's success at creating an indoor game for middle aged men.  Volleyball has become a competitive, athletic, physically demanding, Olympic sport.  One would be hard-pressed to find a middle aged, out of shape, businessman being able to compete in the official volleyball and beach volleyball leagues.  But, perhaps that was the genius of Morgan, since one can still get three generations together at a family reunion and play with those original rules (the whole family gets on the court, the net is just above our heads, and we can hit it as many times as we need to in getting it over) creating enjoyment and exercise for all.