Video:History of Volleyball

Transcript:History of Volleyball

Hi, I'm Natalie Schmitting for About.com. In this video, you will learn about the history of volleyball.

Invention of Volleyball

Volleyball was invented in 1895 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, by a man named William G. Morgan. Morgan was an education director for the YMCA and he created a game called "mintonette," which later came to be volleyball.

Mintonette allowed as many players as you wanted on the court and was made up of 9 innings with 3 serves for each team per inning. There was no limit of ball contacts on each side before sending the ball to the opponent's side. If you missed a serve, you were allowed to try again. This easy-going game was created for the older members at the YMCA.

Mintonette Becomes Volleyball

An observer noted the volleying nature of mintonette at the first exhibition game; soon after, mintonette adopted a new name, "volley ball," which later became "volleyball." The international YMCA Training School updated the rules and the game spread quickly to a number of YMCAs in America.

Volleyball rules and regulations continue to change. For example, beginning in 2004, it was decided that the libero would be allowed to serve in a game. For men's volleyball, the minimum amount of points in games has been changed to 25 points instead of 30.

International Debut of Volleyball

The world got its first public glimpse of the American sport know as volleyball at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Forty years later, in 1964, the game officially became an Olympic sport.

Famous Volleyball Players

Some notable volleyball players throughout history include 1984 MVP gold medalist, Steve Timmons; three-time gold medalist, Misty May-Treanor; three-time gold medalist, Kerri Walsh-Jennings; and award-winning Olympian, Clayton Stanley.

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