Origin of Volleyball

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, Massachusetts, 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 up of 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 program 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 of a competitive sport with high physical and technical
performance.
Court and Net Dimensions

The overall measurements for a Volleyball court is 60 feet by 30 feet. Each side of the court is
therefore 30 feet by 30 feet in size.

Center Line
A center line is marked at the center of the court dividing it equally into 30 feet squares.

Attack Line
The attack line is marked 10 feet on each side of the center line of the court. Some rules show
the attack line at 9′ 10″ however that includes the width of the line itself (2″).
Service Line
A service line is marked 10 feet inside the right sideline on each back line. This is the area from
which the server may serve the volleyball.

The Net
The net is hung directly above the center line at 7 feet 4 inches for women and 8 feet for men.

Standards
Volleyball standards should be set at 36 feet apart, 3 feet on either side of the sidelines.

Ceiling Height
The minimum ceiling height should be 23 feet. Preferably the ceilings should be higher.

Ball Specifications
Indoor volleyballs are designed for the indoor version of the sport, and beach volleyballs for the
beach game.
Indoor volleyballs may be solid white or a combination of two or three different easily
distinguishable colors. They are made in two versions: the youth version is slightly smaller and
weighs much less than an adult volleyball and than the standard version to accommodate
youth's use.
Beach volleyballs are slightly larger than standard indoor balls, have a rougher external texture,
and a lower internal pressure. They can be brightly colored or solid white. The very first
volleyballs were made from leather paneling over a rubber carcass.

Volleyball characteristics[2][3]

Circumference Mass Internal pressure

cm (inches) grams (ounces) kgf/cm² (psi)

Standard indoor 65-67 (25.5-26.5) 260-280 (9.2-9.9) 0.3-0.325 (4.3-4.6)

Youth indoor 63-65 (25-26) 260-280 (9.2-9.9) 0.3 (4.3)

Beach 66-68 (26-27) 260-280 (9.2-9.9) 0.175-0.225 (2.5-3.2)

MAPEH

Submitted by:
Jose Edgar Maat