Who invented the volleyball game?

Originally known as “mintonette,” volleyball was the brainchild of American William G. Morgan, who came up with the idea for the new sport in 1895.

Morgan was keen for his sport to offer a less physically intense and demanding alternative to Naismith’s basketball, one that would appeal to a far broader range of ages and physical abilities. Describing his early experimentations, he said: “In search of an appropriate game, tennis occurred to me, but this required rackets, balls, a net and other equipment, so it was eliminated, but the idea of a net seemed a good one. We raised it to a height of about 6 feet, 6 inches [1.98 metres] from the ground, just above the head of an average man. We needed a ball and among those we tried was a basketball bladder, but this was too light and too slow. We therefore tried the basketball itself, which was too big and too heavy.”

It was not until 1900 that a specially designed ball - lighter and smaller - was devised, which opened up a whole new range of tactical and technical possibilities for the sport. The offensive style of setting and spiking was first showcased in 1916, in the Philippines. Over the years that followed the rules of the sport were further refined and standardised. In 1917, the scoring system per game was changed from 21 to 15 points, while in 1920 the rule stipulating a maximum of three hits per team was instituted.