16/06/2022
1. Volleyball was invented by William George Morgan, an American educator. Morgan was an acquaintance of basketball inventor James Naismith and the former was inspired by the new sport to invent his own. However, he wanted one that could be played indoors. Taking a badminton net and a soccer ball bladder, he created volleyball.
2. Volleyball had a dainty name: Mintonette. This is on account of the fact that it was similar to badminton (“minton” later turned to “mintonette). It was renamed “volleyball” by another educator, Alfred S. Halstead because the ball was volleyed back and forth. Halstead is credited for popularizing the sport.
3. Originally, volleyball was meant to be played indoors. It was also invented because Morgan wanted a game where players did not have to run. He wanted a game that was physical and required players to perform plenty of actions but does not require direct contact with opposing players.
4. The very first volleyball game was an exhibition played in 1896 at Massachusetts’ Springfield College, then known as the International YMCA Training.
5. Basketballs were once used to play the game but their weight prevented players from keeping the ball in flight. The first volleyballs, which were made from a basketball bladder, proved to be too light and slow.
6. The first “official” volleyball was commissioned by A.G. Spalding & Sons for William Morgan. The company designed a ball that had three layers – the innermost layer was made of latex bladder, the next layer was made of cheesecloth, and the outermost was made of leather.
