VOLLEYBALL HISTORY

Volleyball, popular team sport played by hitting an inflated ball back and forth over a high net. In the indoor game, each team has six players, while in beach volleyball, played outdoors on sand, teams consist of two players each. Points are scored by successfully landing the ball in the court of the opponents without its being returned successfully. The game was invented in 1895  as a recreational pastime by American William G. Morgan, the physical education director of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) chapter in Holyoke, Massachusetts. His game, which he originally called Mintonette, quickly became popular, not only in the United States but also around the world. There are 210 national federations in the International Volleyball Federation (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, FIVB), the international governing body for the sport, which is located in Lausanne, Switzerland. An estimated 800 million people play volleyball throughout the world.