By Jason Thorp - www.Volleyball-Ratings.comAverage:Your rating: NoneHolyoke in Massachusetts is wher...

1. Beach Volleyball - A Pastime Sport That Grew to become An
Olympic Game
By Jason Thorp - www.Volleyball-Ratings.com
Average:
Your rating: None
Holyoke in Massachusetts is where volleyball was invented by William G Morgan the YMCA director.
William invented the sport as an alternative to basketball which was invented by
colleague James Naismith who was a director at the Springfield YMCA.
Morgan invented the sport as an alternative to basketball which he thought was to rough and
physical for his members. The sport had many features similar to badminton and as a result the
sport was originally called "mintonette" since several aspects of the game including the court and
the net were actually not very much different than badminton. After an exhibition match, the name
of this game was changed into "volley ball" (2 words) when a spectator noticed how players hit and
volleyed the ball while playing.
Volleyball quickly started to spread globally.
In Europe during World War, military
personal spread the game when foreigners
played the game on bases. In Asia the game
was spread by Missionaries while traveling
through the continent. Also it was spread at
YMCA facilities throughout Asia.
In 1928 United States Volleyball Association
was formed, and in 1947 in Paris the FIVB,
the international organization for this sport
was formed.

2. In southern California Beach Volleyball became
popular in 1932 when the city of Santa Monica
added piers to expand the beach. Because of all this
extra sand and space volleyball nets and later clubs
started popping up everywhere.
Also in Hawaii during this time Volleyball became
popular at the Waikiki Outrigger Beach club. Local
surfers would play the game when the surf was flat
including the famous Duke!
Since its start volleyball has seen rapid growth and expansion. Today as the most popular sport in
the world Volleyball is now also the most popular sport at the Olympics. At the London Olympics
more people watched volleyball than any sport combined!
Author's Bio:Â
Jason is a volleyball fan, coach, player and writer. Writing for www.volleyball-ratings.com he reviews
topics as they relate to volleyball. This includes, drills, videos, equipment and more.