History of Volleyball

The game of volleyball, originally called “mintonette,” was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan after the invention of basketball only four years before. Morgan, a graduate of the Springfield College of the YMCA, designed the game to be a combination of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball.

The first volleyball net was a borrowed net from a tennis court. It was only 6'6 in height but the average American was shorter back then.

In 1930, the first two-man beach volleyball game was played, though the professional sport didn’t start until later. The first beach volleyball association appeared in California (1965), and the professional players united under the AVP(American Volleyball Professionals) in 1983.

At the Los Angeles Olympics, American men and women took gold and silver medals in indoor volleyball competitions. Then four years later the at the Korea Olympics, the men once again scored a gold medal. In 1996, two-man beach volleyball was officially introduced to the Olympics. Today, there are more than 800 million volleyball players worldwide, 46 million of them in the U.S.

Timeline of Volleyball

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Beach Volleyball 1920's