Surprisingly, one of the most beloved sports in the world is also relatively young. Despite the game’s youth, it has undergone a wide variety of changes and evolutions as part of its rich history.
Believe it or not, but at one point there were no Asics or Nike women’s volleyball shoes, not even volleyball uniforms for sale anywhere, let alone online!
To fully understand and appreciate how much the game has changed and how much work went into making it successful, you need to look at the origin of volleyball and study when and why the changes were made.
Just over 100 years ago, in 1895, William G. Morgan developed the first game of volleyball. At the time, Morgan nicknamed the game “Mintonette.” “Mintonette” was created for businessmen as a game involving less physical contact at the YMCA chapter where he worked in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Morgan borrowed skins from various games to create his own game. The first aspect was tennis, borrowing the net. However, instead of the standard net, he raised it to 6 feet 6 inches tall, making it a bit above the head of average men. Other sports he borrowed from include basketball, baseball, and handball. During one of the sport’s demo games, one of the spectators commented that the game was more about volleyball, and the name of the game was changed to Volleyball.
That was just the beginning.
In 1896, the first official volleyball game was played at Springfield College. This game marked the sport’s first real take-off and resulted in more games being played at a variety of different colleges. By 1900, Volleyball had taken off enough that a special ball was designed just for the game. Another feat also accomplished in 1900 was that the YMCA brought the sport of America to Canada, the East, and the Southern Hemisphere. Five years later, Volleyball also spread to Cuba. This diffusion was what meant the beginning of the era of Volleyball. Unlike most sports, Volleyball moved to International in its early days, allowing the game to evolve to meet the needs of players around the world.
In 1907, volleyball received its first recognition as one of the most popular sports at the Playground of America convention. This was the first recognition the sport received and it helped increase its popularity. Over the next ten years, the YMCA continued to spread the sport to Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. In 1913, the first official volleyball competition was held at the Far East Games.
In 1916, Volleyball had its first true evolution. In the Philippines, the offensive set and spike pass was introduced, and the game was modified to include this new form. The Filipinos developed the “bomb”, which is the massacre, and called the attacker the “bomberino”. In this same year, the YMCA invited the NCAA to modify the rules of the game, and it was initiated in universities and other schools as part of the standard physical education courses and intramural programs. A year later, the scoring system was also adjusted so that a game ended after 15 points instead of 21. This allowed for more games to be played in the same amount of time, in an attempt to make the sessions a bit longer. short for players.
Three short years later, in 1919, the United States Expeditionary Forces donated 16,000 volleyballs to the troops, providing a stimulus for growth in foreign countries. With this increase in the growth of the sport, new rules began to be developed. A year later, the rules of the three strokes per side and the attack rules of the last row were implemented.
In 1928, players and fans of the sport realized that “official” tournament rules and regulations were required. The United States Volleyball Association was formed and the first American Volleyball Open tournament was held. The US Open allowed the participation of squads that were not sanctioned by the YMCA, which was a breakthrough at the time. This evolution allowed sports fans to fully enjoy the game without having to be tied to the organization that created it.
After 1928, the game of volleyball changed forever. With the “official” rules in place and a tournament that was not private to the YMCA, the popularity of the sport was allowed to skyrocket. The Men’s US Open was held every year thereafter, with the exception of three years. 1943, 1944 and 1989 did not have the annual tournaments, due to wars and other obstacles.
In 1934, Volleyball saw another major change through the recognition of official referees to supervise the games. This particular change drastically altered the calls and fairness of the game.
The 1940s held several special volleyball events. Not only was the forearm pass introduced into the game, but the first volleyball world championship game was held. It was during this time that the volleyball movement paid off, and squads from around the world were able to discover who was the best. This became an annual event, allowing for more publicity for the sport, which helped its growth. Around this time, more than 50 million people were gambling around the world, in more than 60 different countries.
By 1964, volleyball had become widespread enough to justify its introduction into the Olympics. The first games took place in Tokyo, where a rubber shell with leather panels was used for the ball. This ball became the one that would be used in most modern competitions. As part of the Olympics, Volleyball was allowed to grow even further, until it secured a place for itself as the second most played game in the world.
Despite this high level of popularity, it was not until 1986 that the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association, or WPVA, was formed. With the rising professional interest rate for both genders, volleyball was finally allowed to reach its full potential for popularity. Elementary, middle and high schools, as well as universities, invested in the game by providing volleyball courses in their physical education, so that the sport was known in most homes around the world.
While it is still behind soccer in popularity, volleyball has done extremely well in a game with such young roots.