In this brief history of volleyball lesson, you'll discover who invented the game and when this sport

was
introduced to numerous countries worldwide.

An Indoor Volleyball History: A Brief History of Volleyball Timeline

0Save

In 1895, William G. Morgan (1870-1942) was credited for creating the game of volleyball as a
combination of four sports--basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball.

At the time, Morgan was an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association which we know as the
YMCA and was looking to develop an activity which had less physical contact than basketball that he
could teach his classes of businessmen which were older gentlemen who preferred to play a sport with
less physical contact.

Initially his rules of the volleyball game called for a net to be placed between two groups of any number
of players who played for nine innings with three serves allowed for both teams each inning.

Sounds almost like baseball, right?

Listen to this brief history of volleyball from inventor William G. Morgan

Video created by Volleyball 1on1.com

With the exception of the first serve, hitting the volleyball into the net was considered a foul or the right
for the other team to serve the ball which was called a "sideout."

A Brief History of Volleyball: The Name Of The Volleyball Game

1896: Springfield College, formerly the International YMCA Training School was the site of the first
official game of volleyball.

One observer after watching the ball "volley" back and forth over the net, suggested the name of the
sport should be called "volleyball."

A Brief History of Volleyball

The Volleyball Ball

1900: A special ball was designed that was spherical, and made of leather and sometimes plastic for the
sport.
Some say that Spalding was responsible for creating the first official volleyball, while others dispute this
fact indicating that they believe the ball was developed by someone else.

The Japanese volleyball ball used in the 1964 Olympics, consisted of a rubber carcass with leather
panelling. A similarly constructed ball is used in most modern competition.

Coach AprilVolleyball History

Follow On

The 2008 Summer Olympics Volleyball competitions brought the introduction of the new volleyball ball
with a new moulding design making it more softened compared to the Mikasa MVP200.

A Brief History of Volleyball:

The Development of the Game

1914 - Volleyball was introduced to France

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 - Volleyball was introduced to Great Britain

1917 - YMCA introduced volleyball to Mexico

1918 - Yugoslavia, Czechoslavakia learn the volleyball game

1919 - Poland introduced to the volleyball game

1920 - Soviet Union learns the game of volleyball

A Brief History of Volleyball

Volleyball Rules

1917: The rules of the volleyball game were changed so that the winners were on the first team to score
15 points, instead of 21.

1919: By this time American soldiers and troops had adopted the volleyball game, playing it among
themselves and with their allies on military bases which spread the popularity of the game as they
travelled around the world.

1920s: Most accounts place the origins of the sport of beach volleyball in Santa Monica, California where
the first volleyball courts are put up on the beach at the playground for families and friends to play
games of six people on one side against six people on the other side of the net.

1920: The rules of the game continued to develop with the concept of three hits per side per team
along with other developments which included prohibiting the back row players from being allowed to
attack the ball over the net.

The first modern day spike was developed in the Phillipines where this particular skill was called the
"Filipino bomb."

1922: The first YMCA national volleyball championships were held in Brooklyn, NY. with 27 teams from
11 states represented.

1928: Additional rules of the game were established as well as tournaments created when the United
States Volleyball Association (USVBA, now USA Volleyball) was formed. With the creation of the USVBA,
volleyball teams were formed with players who weren't members of the YMCA allowing for the first
time all-male non-YMCA teams to participate in the first US Open for volleyball.

1930s: According to early accounts of the history about volleyball the first doubles team, consisting of
two-men playing against two-men on the beach was played in Santa Monica, California.
1934: National volleyball referees were first recognized and approved in the mid 1930s.

1937: The U.S. Volleyball Association was officially recognized as volleyball's National Governing Body
(NGB) in the United States at the Amateur Athletic convention held in 1937 in Boston.

1947: In an effort to unite and formalize the sport under one entity several European national governing
bodies worked together to create the Federation Internationale De Volley-Ball (FIVB) which was
centered in Paris.

The Philippines had more influence over the style of modern volleyball than you might think. In fact,
Philippine volleyball players invented the set and spike. More than 800 million people in the world play
volleyball at least once a week, according to information from the Westlake High School physical
education department. This competitive sport burns 364 calories per hour for a 200-pound person.

Origins

The history of volleyball in the Philippines dates back to 1910. The Physical Director of the YMCA,
Elwood S. Brown, first introduced volleyball to the Philippines that year. Philippine people began to play
volleyball as a backyard sport and games of beach volleyball soon followed, according to information
from the Philippine Volleyball Federation, or PVF. Players hung the net between two trees. They made
up their own rules regarding how many players on each side and how many times you could hit the ball
before sending it over the net.

Three-Hit Limit

The Philippine style of volleyball inspired the Americans to create the three-hit limit, according to
information on the PVF website. Before the rule, Philippine volleyball teams would sometimes let every
player hit the ball before sending it over to the opposing side. This took too much time and snuffed out
the challenge and competitive nature of the game.

Set and Spike

With the new three-hit rule in place, Philippine players experimented with new volleyball techniques
and came up with the set and spike, a.k.a. the “Filipino Bomb.” In this offensive passing style, one player
hits the volleyball and sends it high in the air to set it up for another player on her team. A second player
then strikes the ball sending it over the net at a downward angle. This is called spiking the ball