History of volleyball

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Volleyball

What is volleyball? 

Volleyball is a game where two teams play against each other on opposite sides of a net. Each team has six players on the court. One team would have a player serve the ball, or hit the ball over the net, to start the game, while the other team receives it by trying to hit it back across the net. 

According to the International Olympic Committee, William G. Morgan created volleyball in 1895 for those who felt as though basketball’s ‘bumping’ or ‘pushing’ were too difficult.

The idea of volleyball came from a mixture of different sports including the ball of basketball, hand movements from handball and lastly the net came from tennis.

Pakmen Volleyball Club states that basketball was too aggressive so Morgan decided to create something that had required less physical contact but would still be able to be played in teams.

In high schools volleyball has spread, with 40% more students playing since 2017. But the spread of volleyball really started in 1920 when national volleyball associations began. According to NCVA, these national volleyball associations were started by Japan, Russia and the United States. 

During World War ll U.S. soldiers brought the game overseas. This led to the quick spread of volleyball in Europe.

Timeline

1896- The rules were changed over the next few months and on July 7, 1896 the first game was officially played at Springfield College.

1916- Volleyball became a P.E class in schools and colleges because the YMCA asked the National Collegiate Athletic Association to advertise and publicize volleyball. They also wanted them to help improve rules.

1916- The ball could be hit with the feet.

1917- The rules of volleyball would keep changing, including scoring, which changed from winning at 21 to 15. In the following years the number of players was set at si players. 

A few years later in the Philippines emerged a new way of playing the game, including what we now call setting and spiking. In order to get the ball over the net, each side could hit the ball as many times as they wanted, as there was no limit on the number of hits. 

1920- There began to be a limit of each team hitting the ball only three times on its side of the court.