History of Volleyball

History of Volleyball

• Volleyball was invented by William Morgan in 1895, not 1985, as an athletic director at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).
• Morgan created the game to be fun, like basketball, but less physically demanding.
• The name "volleyball" originated from Alfred Halstead, who noticed the game's volleying nature.

Volleyball in the Olympics

• Volleyball was first played as an official Olympic sport in the 1964 Olympics.
• Japan won the first gold medal in women's volleyball.
• The USSR won the first gold medal in men's volleyball.

Volleyball Equipment

• An indoor volleyball is typically white, but may have other colors, with 8 or 16 panels, and is usually made of leather.
• The official indoor volleyball is 25.5-26.5 inches in circumference, weighs 9.2-9.9 ounces, and has 4.3-4.6 psi air pressure.
• A youth volleyball is slightly smaller than an official indoor volleyball.
• Beach volleyballs are slightly bigger than indoor volleyballs, weigh the same, but have much less air pressure.

Volleyball Court

• A volleyball court is 18 meters long and 9 meters wide.
• The court is divided in the middle by the net, which is 1-meter-wide.
• The top of the net is 7 feet 11 5/8 inches above the ground (approximately 8 feet).
• A line, called the attack line, is drawn on each side, 3 meters from the net, parallel to the net, defining the front row and back row areas.