Sports - Volleyball

William G. Morgan, the inventor of volleyball, sought to create a sport that would not be physically demanding and in which physical contact among players would be reduced. He used the elements of other sports (basketball, handball, tennis and baseball) and called the new sport “mintonette". It was first played in Springfield at the YMCA Conference of Directors of Physical Education in 1896, noting that it was designed for the gym, but could also be played outdoors. The name of the sport was soon changed to "volley-ball" as the players "bounce" the ball from one side of the field to the other.

The first rules were printed in 1897 and volleyball spread rapidly around the globe, and the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was established in Paris on 18 April 1947. The first Men's European Volleyball Championship was held in Rome in 1948, and a year later the women’s one (1949). The first Men's World Volleyball Championship was held in Prague in 1949, and women’s one in Moscow in 1952. Volleyball (for both men and women) was first played at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Two years later, the beach volleyball was added to the Olympic Games programme.

(Željka Šaravanja)