Men’s volleyball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, having increased by 40% since 2017. This fun and easy-to-learn sport has a rich and interesting beginning, and it all started in 1895, at a YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

William George Morgan was born on January 23, 1870, in the town of Lockport, New York. Morgan attended the Northfield Mount Hermon Preparatory School, where he met James Naismith, the future inventor of basketball. After that, he attended the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School (now known as Springfield College) in Massachusetts, where he and Naismith both pursued careers in physical education. In 1895, Morgan moved to Holyoke, Massachusetts, where he became the Director of Physical Education at the local YMCA.

Morgan noticed that while playing basketball, the non-athletic/older men playing would have a hard time keeping up with the strenuous physical activity involved. He decided that he wanted to make a different game, similar to basketball, but more inclusive and easier to play. Morgan used ideas from handball, tennis, badminton, and his own experience to develop his new game.

The game would feature:

• A 30 feet wide, 60 feet long playing area
• A 6-foot, 6-inch net in the middle, separating the play area into two halves
• 5 people on each side of the court, making a total of 10 players
• A ball, which would be sent over the net in a “volley”
• Innings (inspired from baseball), later called “sets,” to add a competitive tone to the game

A problem that Morgan had was finding a ball to use for his new game. A basketball was too heavy and hard, and just the bladder of the basketball itself was too light, so he contacted A.G. Spalding & Bros to make him a custom ball. They created a leather ball, around 26 inches in circumference, and was the perfect weight for his sport, 9-12 ounces. Finally, all the new sport needed was a name, and Morgan named it “Mintonette,” a word derived from badminton.

In 1896, William Morgan first presented his sport at the to the YMCA Directors of Physical Education at the YMCA in Springfield. The object of the game was to keep the ball off the floor as it went from one side of the net to the other. One person that was especially intrigued was Professor Alfred T. Halsted, who was the first person to suggest naming the sport “Volley ball,” later formed into one word, volleyball.

As the years went by, many major things happened:

• 1900 – Spalding starts to produce the volleyball
• 1920s – First beach volleyball courts are created in Santa Monica, California
• 1922 – First YMCA volleyball national championships held in Brooklyn; 27 teams appeared
• 1928 – the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) was created, which made rules and held tournaments (now known as USA Volleyball)
• 1937 – USAV recognized as the national governing body for the sport
• 1947 – FIVB (The Federation Internationale De Volleyball) was founded
• 1964 – Volleyball was introduced to the Olympic games in Tokyo, Japan
• 1983 – The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) is formed
• 1996 – Two-man beach volleyball becomes an Olympic sport