Volleyball - A Sport with More 100 Years of History

William Kopenhefer of Manhattan Beach, California, is a student in New York University’s liberal studies program and a supporter of several community service organizations and initiatives. Outside his academic and charitable pursuits, Manhattan Beach native William Kopenhefer is an active volleyball player, a sport with over 100 years of history and more than 800 million fans worldwide.

The history of volleyball traces back to 1985, when Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) instructor William G. Morgan sought to design a sport with less physical contact than basketball. He combined aspects of the games baseball, tennis, handball, and basketball to form his new sport, which he called mintonette at the time. The first game used a tennis net raised approximately 6 feet above the ground, and the name volleyball came about when someone remarked that the players appeared to volley the ball back and forth.

Students at Springfield College were the first to play the game under its new name in July, 1986, and its spread throughout the world took off thereafter. The YMCA introduced the game in Asia, Canada, and the Southern Hemisphere in 1900, and the sport received its own ball design that same year. In 1916, Philippines players introduced the high-trajectory “set” and “spike” moves; additionally, the YMCA invited the National Collegiate Athletic Association to help promote the sport and edit Morgan’s original rules. Volleyball was also added to school and college physical education programs that same year.

Six years after the first YMCA national championships in 1922 in Brooklyn, New York, the United States Volleyball Association was formed and began establishing tournament regulations and rules. Prague, Czechoslovakia, hosted the first World Championships in 1949, and soccer featured in the Olympic World Games for the first time in the 1964 Tokyo Games.