William Morgan 1870 - 1942

From Mary Bellis & Scott Hammon,

William Morgan invented volleyball in 1895 at the Holyoke, Massachusetts, YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) where he served as Director of Physical Education. Morgan originally called his new game of Volleyball, Mintonette. The name Volleyball came about after a demonstration game of the sport, when spectators commented that the game involved a lot of "volleying" and the game was later renamed “Volleyball”.

William Morgan was born in the state of New York and studied at Springfield College, Massachusetts. Ironically at Springfield, Morgan met James Naismith who invented basketball in 1891. Morgan was motivated by Naismith's game of basketball designed for younger students to invent a game suitable for the older members of the YMCA. William Morgan's basis for the new game of Volleyball was the then popular and similar German game of Faustball. Volleyball was first played with a tennis net raised to a height of 6 and 1/2 feet off the floor and combined many of the rules of baseball, tennis, handball and basketball.

Can you believe that during the birth of volleyball, the teams could have any number of players? Each game was played for nine endings. There was no limit to the number of hits on each side. There were quite a few crazy rules. This quickly changed as the sport gained in popularity. In 1890 the first ball designed for volleyball emerged and the net was raised a foot. In fact it was not until 1916 that through a series of rule changes, that a rule set that resembles today's emerged.

It was also in 1916 that we saw one of the most exciting aspects of the game emerge, the spike. The spike, or overhand attack, was developed in the Philippines and brought about a radical new change to the game, offense. The Philippines developed an offensive strategy that propelled a ball on a high trajectory (set) for which another player would jump and strike the ball down (spike).

Riding on this new offensive excitement, soon volleyball became popular and tournaments were organized in YMCAs around the United States. Volleyball spread around the world and eventually a world governing body, the Federation for International Volleyball (FIVB) was established in 1947.

Today Volleyball is the second most popular sport in the world (behind soccer). From its beginnings more than 110 years ago it has spread to every corner of the world and the number of players is nearing one billion. No one knows exactly why volleyball has such a huge following but one thing is for certain: since its early beginnings, volleyball has gone through some dramatic changes. Changes made for the love of the game and its expansion as a popular sport.

Volleyball is a sport in transition. With the increasing competition between sports for  television time, sponsorship money and expansion, millions of players, fans and coaches are each doing all they can for the love of the volleyball.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Although beach volleyball was first played in the 1920s in the United States, it didn't become a competitive sport in California until 1947. Beach volleyball has grown today in popularity that rivals its indoor counterpart. The first world championships were held in 1976 and, while there has never been a successful professional indoor volleyball tour in the U.S., in 1983 the U.S. saw its first professional beach volleyball league, the Association of Volleyball Professionals. Beach volleyball gained its highest moment when it was added as an official sport in the 1996 Olympics. 

VOLLEYBALL IN WINNIPEG
Whereas most national sport governing bodies established grass-roots development models that involved the use of community clubs, Volleyball Canada opted for a European-style club system where coaches could start their own clubs. Therefore, club teams are tournament teams that represent their club at local tournaments, Provincial Championships and National Championships. In Manitoba the club volleyball season runs from December ID Camps until Nationals in May. The length of the club season varies from province to province.

Volleyball is only one of two team sports in Canada that provides athletes with an opportunity to compete at a Provincial and National Championship. This begins with the U13 age class (boys and girls in grade 7) and goes until U18 (grade 12 athletes). Provincial Championships are offered through Volleyball Manitoba, the provincial governing body for volleyball, and National Championships are offered through Volleyball Canada.

Club volleyball is not a fair-play environment. Unlike being on school teams or recreational indoor league teams, athletes are being trained to compete against the very best teams in the country. Coaches are generally not subject to the same playing time requirements as other, less competitive programs.

All club teams are tournament teams. Although try outs start in December team practices cannot start until mid-January and the tournament season doesn't officially begin until mid-February. Tournaments may occur on a weekly basis until Nationals in May.