...Morgan, an instructor at a YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) in Holyoke, Massachusetts decided that he wanted to mix the elements of tennis, baseball and handball to create a sport that his classes of business men could participate in. His goal was to create a sport that was less physically demanding and one that didn’t possess as much contact as basketball. When this game was first invented it was called “mintonette”, which used the net from tennis and raised it six feet and six inches above the floor. It wasn’t until a demonstration game when observer, Alfred Halstead suggested to Morgan that the players seemed to be volleying the ball across the net that the game was renamed volleyball. The first game of volleyball was played July 7, 1896 at Springfield College; however it wasn’t until 1900 that a special ball was created for the sport. During the years 1900-1905 volleyball began to spread to Canada, the Southern Hemisphere and Cuba. It wasn’t until 1907 that the game of volleyball was presented to America and recognized as one of the most popular sports. During the next ten years volleyball took an amazing spread to Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Brazil and the Philippines. In the Philippines the set and spike where developed and began part of the volleyball offence. In 1916 volleyball was inducted into school and college physical education classes through the NCAA. In 1917 the game was changed from the winner score having to be 51 to 21. In 1922 the first national championships were held in Brooklyn, NY. Twenty-seven teams from eleven countries were represented. Six years after that the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) was established to aid in creating tournaments and rules for the game. In that same year the first U.S Open was conducted. In 1934 national volleyball referees were approved. In 1946 volleyball was the ranked fifth amongst team...
