Who invented volleyball?
Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education director in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He originally called the game mintonette.
Morgan wanted a less strenuous indoor sport than basketball, which had been invented a few miles away just four years earlier. He combined elements of basketball, baseball, tennis and handball. Players hit a ball back and forth over a net raised about 2 meters high. A spectator remarked that the players seemed to be volleying the ball, and the name volleyball was adopted.
Volleyball spread through YMCA programs and was popular with American soldiers during World War I. The sport's international governing body was founded in 1947. Volleyball became an Olympic sport at the 1964 Tokyo Games, and beach volleyball was added in 1996.
Volleyball today
Volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world, especially in Brazil, Italy, Poland, the United States, Japan and Turkey. Teams have six players on court. Points are scored when the ball lands in the opponent's court or they make an error.
Did You Know?
A volleyball spike can travel at more than 120 kilometers per hour.