In 1995, the sport of Volleyball was 100 years old!

The sport originated in the United States, and is now just achieving the type of popularity in the U.S. that it has received on a global basis, where it ranks behind only soccer among participation sports. Today there are more than 46 million Americans who play volleyball. There are 800 million players worldwide who play Volleyball at least once a week. 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). Morgan borrowed the net from tennis, and raised it 6 feet 6 inches above the floor, just above the average man's head. 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. 1896, July 7th - at Springfield College the first game of "volleyball" was played. 1900, a special ball was designed for the sport. 1900 - YMCA spread volleyball to Canada, the Orient, and the Southern Hemisphere. 1905 - YMCA spread volleyball to Cuba 1907 Volleyball was presented at the Playground of America convention as one of the most popular sports 1909 - YMCA spread volleyball to Puerto Rico 1912 - YMCA spread volleyball to Uruguay 1913 - Volleyball competition held in Far Eastern Games 1916, in the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory to be struck by another player (the set and spike) were introduced. The Filipinos developed the "bomba" or kill, and called the hitter a "bomberino". 1916 - The NCAA was invited by the YMCA to aid in editing the rules and in promoting the sport. Volleyball was added to school and college physical education and intramural programs.

1917 - YMCA spread volleyball to Brazil 1917, the game was changed from 21 to 15 points. 1919 American Expeditionary Forces distributed 16,000 volleyballs to it's troops and allies. This provided a stimulus for the growth of volleyball in foreign lands. 1920, three hits per side and back row attack rules were instituted. 1922, the first YMCA national championships were held in Brooklyn, NY. 27 teams from 11 states were represented. 1928, it became clear that tournaments and rules were needed, the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA, now USA Volleyball) was formed. The first U.S. Open was staged, as the field was open to non-YMCA squads. 1930's Recreational sports programs became an important part of American life 1930, the first two-man beach game was played. 1934, the approval and recognition of national volleyball referees. 1937, at the AAU convention in Boston, action was taken to recognize the U.S. Volleyball Association as the official national governing body in the U.S. Late 1940s Forearm pass introduced to the game (as a desperation play). Most balls were played with overhand pass. 1946 A study of recreation in the United States showed that volleyball ranked fifth among team sports being promoted and organized 1947, the Federation Internationale De Volley-Ball (FIVB) was founded in Paris. 1948, the first two-man beach tournament was held. 1949, the first World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. 1949 USVBA added a collegiate division, for competitive college teams. For the first ten years collegiate competition was sparse. Teams formed only through the efforts of interested students and instructors. Many teams dissolved when the interested individuals left the college. Competitive teams were scattered, with no collegiate governing bodies providing leadership in the sport.

1951 - Volleyball was played by over 50 million people each year in over 60 countries 1955 - Pan American Games included volleyball 1957 - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) designated volleyball as an Olympic team sport, to be included in the 1964 Olympic Games. 1959 - International University Sports Federation (FISU) held the first University Games in Turin, Italy. Volleyball was one of the eight competitions held. 1960 Seven midwestern institutions formed the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) 1964 Southern California Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (SCVIA) was formed in California 1960's new techniques added to the game included - the soft spike (dink), forearm pass (bump), blocking across the net, and defensive diving and rolling. In 1964, Volleyball was introduced to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Japanese volleyball used in the 1964 Olympics, consisted of a rubber carcass with leather panelling. A similarly constructed ball is used in most modern competition. In 1965, the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) was formed. 1968 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) made volleyball their fifteenth competitive sport. 1969 The Executive Committee of the NCAA proposed addition of volleyball to its program. 1974, the World Championships in Mexico were telecast in Japan. 1975, the US National Women's team began a year-round training regime in Pasadena, Texas (moved to Colorado Springs in 1979, Coto de Caza and Fountain Valley, CA in 1980, and San Diego, CA in 1985). 1977, the US National Men's team began a year-round training regime in Dayton, Ohio (moved to San Diego, CA in 1981). 1983, the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) was formed. 1984, the US won their first medals at the Olympics in Los Angeles. The Men won the Gold, and the Women the Silver.

1986, the Women's Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA) was formed. 1987, the FIVB added a Beach Volleyball World Championship Series. 1988, the US Men repeated the Gold in the Olympics in Korea. 1989, the FIVB Sports Aid Program was created. 1990, the World League was created. 1992, the Four Person Pro Beach League was started in the United States. 1994, Volleyball World Wide, the first internet site on the sport of volleyball, was created. 1995, the sport of Volleyball was 100 years old! 1996, 2-person beach volleyball was added to the Olympics There is a good book, "Volleyball Centennial : The First 100 Years", available on the history of the sport. William G. Morgan - Father of Volleyball Born in 1870 at Lockport, New York, William G. Morgan spent his childhood years attending public school and working at his father's boat yard on the banks of the Old Erie Canal. In 1891 Morgan entered Mt. Hermon Preparatory School in Northfield, Massachusetts, and it was there he developed a friendship with James A. Naismith, who was destined to be the originator of basketball. Naismith was impressed with young Morgan's athletic skills and encouraged Morgan to continue his education at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts (now called Springfield College). While at Springfield, Morgan participated on the college's famous football team which played championship ball under the leadership of Alonzo A. Stagg, one of the "Grand Old Men of Football". In 1894, after graduation, Morgan accepted the position of physical director of the Auburn, Maine YMCA. The following year he accepted a similar post in Holyoke, Mass., and it was here the story of Volleyball began. Invention of the Game The year was 1895 and physical director William G. Morgan had a problem. The newly created game of basketball, while popular with the kids, was proving to be too strenuous for the local businessmen. He needed an alternative - something these older gentlemen could play - something without too much "bumping" or "jolting". It had to be physical - playing a game, after work and at lunch time, should provide exercise, but it also had to relax the participants - it couldn't be too aggressive.

It had to be a sport, Morgan said, "with a strong athletic impulse, but no physical contact." So, he borrowed. From basketball, he took the ball. From tennis the net. The use of hands and the ability to play off the walls and over hangs, he borrowed from handball. And, from baseball, he took the concept of innings. He termed this new game "Mintonette". And though admittedly incomplete, it proved successful enough to win an audience at the YMCA Physical Director's Conference held in Springfield, Massachusetts the next year. It was at this conference that Dr. Alfred Halstead, a professor at Springfield College, suggested a two-word version of its present name. "Volley Ball". And it stuck. The game of volleyball was quite a bit different from what we're used to. It was played on a smaller 25'x50' court, with an unlimited number of players hitting the ball an unlimited number of times, on either side of a 6'6" high net. Things tended to get a little crowded. Each game was broken up into nine innings, each inning made of up three outs, or "serves". These serves could be helped over the net by a second player, if the server didn't quite reach the net. The basketball originally used proved to be a little too heavy, and the subsequent use of a basketball bladder, too soft. Morgan remedied this by contacting A.G. Spalding, a local sporting goods manufacturer who designed a special ball - a rubber bladder, encased in leather, 25" or so in circumference. The "volleyball". Though still in its infancy, the sport was slowly developing and with the YCMA taking the reigns, Morgan was confident volleyball would continue to entertain and relax the boys down at the "Y". What he probably didn't realize was that he had just created what would become the second most popular team sport in the world. Worldwide Growth The physical education directors of the YMCA, encouraged particularly by two professional schools of physical education, Springfield college in Massachusetts and George Williams College in Chicago (now at Downers Grove, Illinois), adopted volleyball in all its societies throughout the United States, Canada (in 1900 Canada became the first foreign country to adopt the game), and also in many other countries: Elwood S. Brown in the Philippines (1910), J. Howard Crocker in China, Franklin H. Brown in Japan (1908), Dr. J.H. Gray in Burma, in China and in India, and others in Mexico and South American, European and African countries.

By 1913 the development of volleyball on the Asian continent was assured as, in that year, the game was included in the programme of the first Far-Eastern Games, organized in Manila. It should be noted that, for a long time, Volleyball was played in Asia according to the "Brown" rules which, among other things, used 16 players (to enable a greater participation in matches). An indication of the growth of volleyball in the United States is given in an article published in 1916 in the Spalding Volleyball Guide and written by Robert C. Cubbon. In that article Cubbon estimated that the number of players had reached a total of 200,000 people subdivided in the following way: in the YMCA (boys, young men, and older men) 70,000, in the YWCA (girls and women) 50,000, in schools (boys and girls) 25,000 and in colleges (young men) 10,000. In 1916, the YMCA managed to induce the powerful National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to publish its rules and a series of articles, contributing to the rapid growth of volleyball among young college students. In 1918 the number of players per team was limited to six, and in 1922 the maximum number of authorized contacts with the ball was fixed at three. Until the early 1930s volleyball was for the most part a game of leisure and recreation, and there were only a few international activities and competitions. There were different rules of the game in the various parts of the world; however, national championships were played in many countries (for instance, in Eastern Europe where the level of play had reached a remarkable standard). Volleyball thus became more and more a competitive sport with high physical and technical performance. The FIVB It has seen the start of two centuries and the dawn of a new millennium. Volleyball is now one of the big five international sports, and the FIVB, with its 220 affiliated national federations, is the largest international sporting federation in the world. Volleyball has witnessed unprecedented growth over the last decade. With the great success of world competitions such as the FIVB World Championships, the FIVB World League, the FIVB World Grand Prix, the FIVB World Cup, and the FIVB Grand Champions Cup as well as the Olympic Games, the level of participation at all levels internationally continues to grow exponentially. The beach volleyball phenomenon also continues to amaze. The overwhelming spectator and television success of Beach Volleyball since its introduction to the Olympic Games at Atlanta 1996 and the stunning success of the FIVB Swatch World Tour and World Championships has opened up volleyball to a completely new market.