The History of Volleyball

Ever wonder where volleyball originated?

On February 9, 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education director, created a new game called Mintonette as a pastime to be played preferably indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. Mintonette (as volleyball was then known) was designed to be an indoor sport less rough than basketball for older members of the YMCA.

The first rules, called for a net 6 feet 6 inches high, a 25 × 50 foot court, and any number of players. A match was composed of nine innings with three serves for each team in each inning, and no limit to the number of ball contacts for each team before sending the ball to the opponents’ court. In case of a serving error, a second try was allowed. Hitting the ball into the net was considered a foul (with loss of the point or a side-out)—except in the case of the first-try serve. To protect the fingers of the ladies, they were allowed to catch the ball and then throw it back into play....

My, how times have changed.