Volleyball | Definition, History, Rules, Positions, Court, & Facts (2024)

volleyball, game played by two teams, usually of six players on a side, in which the players use their hands to bat a ball back and forth over a high net, trying to make the ball touch the court within the opponents’ playing area before it can be returned. To prevent this a player on the opposing team bats the ball up and toward a teammate before it touches the court surface—that teammate may then volley it back across the net or bat it to a third teammate who volleys it across the net. A team is allowed only three touches of the ball before it must be returned over the net.

History

Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, physical director of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was designed as an indoor sport for businessmen who found the new game of basketball too vigorous. Morgan called the sport “mintonette,” until a professor from Springfield College in Massachusetts noted the volleying nature of play and proposed the name of “volleyball.” The original rules were written by Morgan and printed in the first edition of the Official Handbook of the Athletic League of the Young Men’s Christian Associations of North America (1897). The game soon proved to have wide appeal for both sexes in schools, playgrounds, the armed forces, and other organizations in the United States, and it was subsequently introduced to other countries.

In 1916 rules were issued jointly by the YMCA and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The first nationwide tournament in the United States was conducted by the National YMCA Physical Education Committee in New York City in 1922. The United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) was formed in 1928 and recognized as the rules-making, governing body in the United States. From 1928 the USVBA—now known as USA Volleyball (USAV)—has conducted annual national men’s and senior men’s (age 35 and older) volleyball championships, except during 1944 and 1945. Its women’s division was started in 1949, and a senior women’s division (age 30 and older) was added in 1977. Other national events in the United States are conducted by member groups of the USAV such as the YMCA and the NCAA.

Volleyball was introduced into Europe by American troops during World War I, when national organizations were formed. The Fédération Internationale de Volley Ball (FIVB) was organized in Paris in 1947 and moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1984. The USVBA was one of the 13 charter members of the FIVB, whose membership grew to more than 210 member countries by the late 20th century.

International volleyball competition began in 1913 with the first Far East Games, in Manila. During the early 1900s and continuing until after World War II, volleyball in Asia was played on a larger court, with a lower net, and nine players on a team.

The FIVB-sponsored world volleyball championships (for men only in 1949; for both men and women in 1952 and succeeding years) led to acceptance of standardized playing rules and officiating. Volleyball became an Olympic sport for both men and women at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

European championships were long dominated by Czechoslovakian, Hungarian, Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Soviet (later, Russian) teams. At the world and Olympic level, Soviet teams have won more titles, both men’s and women’s, than those of any other nation. Their success was attributed to widespread grassroots interest and well-organized play and instruction at all levels of skill. A highly publicized Japanese women’s team, Olympic champions in 1964, reflected the interest of private industry in sport. Young women working for the sponsoring company devoted their free time to conditioning, team practice, and competition under expert and demanding coaching. Encouraged by the Japanese Volleyball Association, this women’s team made its mark in international competition, winning the World Championship in 1962, 1966, and 1967, in addition to the 1964 Olympics. At the end of the 20th century, however, the Cuban women’s team dominated both the World Championships and the Olympics.

The Pan American Games (involving South, Central, and North America) added volleyball in 1955, and Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Cuba, and the United States are frequent contenders for top honors. In Asia, China, Japan, and Korea dominate competition. Volleyball, especially beach volleyball, is played in Australia, New Zealand, and throughout the South Pacific.

A four-year cycle of international volleyball events, recommended by the FIVB, began in 1969 with World Cup championships, to be held in the year following the Olympic Games; the second year is the World Championships; in the third the regional events are held (e.g., European championships, Asian Games, African Games, Pan American Games); and in the fourth year the Olympic Games.

Beach volleyball—usually played, as its name implies, on a sand court with two players per team—was introduced in California in 1930. The first official beach volleyball tournament was held in 1948 at Will Rogers State Beach, in Santa Monica, California, and the first FIVB-sanctioned world championship was held in 1986 at Rio de Janeiro. Beach volleyball was added to the roster of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.