A Brief History of Women's Volleyball

A Brief History of Women's Volleyball

A Brief History of Women's Volleyball

Volleyball is a truly American sport; its popularity grew through the work of American missionaries. Over 800 million people play worldwide now. In comparison, about 46 million Americans play, mostly for recreation, although major college and Olympic programs have increased the sport's stature. Retailers like Finish Line and Adidas are great places to find volleyball apparel and gear.

Immediate Changes

Volleyball didn't have many rules when it started. Two teams with as many players as would fit on the court took up their positions on opposite sides of the net and hit the ball back and forth until one team missed. Later rules set the number of players per team at nine and then six, while limiting the number of hits allowed each side to three. A team won when it reached 21 points in the earliest games. Now, the team only needs 15 points.

Born of Necessity

YMCA education director William G. Morgan first came up with the idea of volleyball in 1895 while searching for a game that older men could play with worrying about rough physical contact. Morgan combined elements of basketball (invented nearby only four years earlier), baseball, handball, and tennis, and raised a net 6'6'' above the floor. He called that first game "mintonette," although it was changed quickly to volleyball after someone remarked that the players were volleying the ball back and forth over the net. The first college game was played in July 1896 at Springfield College in Massachusetts.

A Century of Growth

Volleyball began to take off for men and women shortly after the turn of the century. A special ball was introduced in 1900 and two ubiquitous moves--the set and the spike--gained popularity in the Philippines around 1916. By 1928, the U.S. Volleyball Association was founded to come up with standard game rules and organize tournament play. Amateur interest in volleyball grew over the next 40 years, and it became a leading sport for girls by mid-century. The nation held its first championship games for women in 1949 and followed that a few years later with the first international women's championship. By 1964, volleyball had become an Olympic sport for both sexes.

The Glory Years

Around that same time, beach volleyball being played in California and Hawaii captured the public's attention, and women's volleyball developed into a dynamic college sport. The University of Southern California won the NCAA's first women's college championship in 1981. The school still dominates college-level women's play today, along with Stanford and Penn State universities. However, there weren't any opportunities to play after college for American women who didn't want to move overseas. In 1986, the Women's Professional Volleyball Association was formed to take the sport to the next level in the United States, but a lack of interest led to that group's dissolution. Years later, in 2009, the Women's National Volleyball Association formed to try again.

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