Volleyball was created in 1895 by William G. Morgan, physical director of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was designed as an indoor sport for businessmen who found the new game of basketball too vigorous. Morgan called the sport “mintonette,” until a professor from Springfield College in Massachusetts noted the volleying nature of play and proposed the name of “volleyball.”

The sports popularity exponentially grew all over the world, with the introduction of it into Europe by American Troops during World War 1.  International volleyball competition began in 1913 with the first Far East Games, in Manila.

The FIVB-sponsored world volleyball championships (for men only in 1949; for both men and women in 1952 and succeeding years) led to acceptance of standardized playing rules and officiating. Volleyball officially became an Olympic sport for both men and women at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.