Volleyball - An Introduction

Volleyball has come a long way from the dusty-old YMCA gymnasium of Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA, where visionary, William G. Morgan, invented the sport back in 1895. It has seen the start of two centuries and the dawn of a new millennium. Volleyball is now one of the big five international sports, and the FIVB, with its 218 affiliated national federations, is the largest international sporting federation in the world.

Over the last decade particularly, volleyball has witnessed unprecedented growth. With the success of its world competition such as the World Championships, Olympic Games, the US15$ million World League, Grand Prix, World Cup, and World Grand Champions Cup, the level of participation at all levels internationally continues to grow exponentially.

The beach volleyball phenomenon, although hugely visible, is still just in its infancy. From the first FIVB World Tour event just over ten years ago, to the overwhelming spectator and television success of 'Beach' at the 96, 00, 04 and 08 Olympic Games, beach volleyball has opened up Volleyball to a completely new market.