#365volley facts - December

We are starting the info campaign #365volley! Every day we will post interesting facts from the volleyball world, for 1 year, on our Facebook page. The materials have been researched by the international volunteers Alexandra (Portugal), Azer (Azerbaijan) and Alejandro (Spain) and prepared by Andreea (Romania). Follow us on Facebook to find out more about its history, variations, playing rules and more about this world!

Here are the December facts!

1. The game of volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan and was originally called “mintonette” (referencing its similarity to badminton). The volleyball game was invented 4 years after basketball, and it was designed as a combination of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball.

2. “My coach tells me to give about 75% for volleyball. If I give 100%, my service will kill someone, and my coach doesn't want to deal with the paperwork”

3. The idea of volleyball was born when Morgan reached to the conclusion that basketball was an extremely physically demanding sport, running the court up and down, not so easy to be practiced by people that weren’t in enough good shape, and so he decided to create a new game, also indoors, following some of the goals of basketball, but for people who weren’t in as good shape. And this is why volleyball was created.

4. After a demonstration, it was Dr Alfred T. Halstead who suggested to Morgan that a better name for the sport than Mintonette would be “Volley Ball”, as the game primarily consisted of volleying a ball back and forth. Morgan liked the new name and re-named the sport as such.

5. In 1916, in the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high trajectory to be struck by another player (the set and spike) were introduced and quickly became popular throughout the world. The rule only allowing three hits per side before a ball must be returned wasn’t established until 1920.

6. Volleyball was originally demonstrated in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, but not played as an official sport. It was finally added as an official sport in 1964, in Tokyo.

7. The Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) was founded in April 1947, in France. The headquarters were established in Paris, where they remained for the first 37 years. Mr Libaud, President of the French Federation, was elected first President of the FIVB.

8. In 1949 the U.S. Volleyball Association sponsored the first National Women's Open championships. The first World Championships were organised in 1949 for Men and 1952 for Women. The first televised volleyball matches were at the 1974 World Championships in Mexico, although they were televised only in Japan.

9. “Don't ever let the ball hit the ground without a body hitting the ground with it.”

10. In 1981 the NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association, (a nonprofit organization in North America) recognizes the growth of women's volleyball and held its first national championship for women.

11. Beach volleyball is an outdoor sand-based court sport played between two teams of two. The aim of the game is to hit an inflated ball over a net that hangs high at the centre of the court and make it land in the opposition's half.

12. Most likely originated in 1915 on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, the first Beach volleyball matches were played with teams of at least six players per side, much like indoor volleyball. The concept of the modern two-man beach volleyball game is credited to Paul "Pablo" Johnson of the Santa Monica, California, Athletic Club.

13. Beach volleyball grew in popularity in the United States during the Great Depression in the 1930s as it was an inexpensive activity.

14. The sport began to appear in Europe in 1930. Competitions became common over the following decades, and the sport’s popularity increased during the 80s.

15. The first professional beach volleyball tournament was the Olympia World Championship of Beach Volleyball, in 1976, at Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades, California. The first "world champions", were Greg Lee and Jim Menges.

16. There are many health benefits you can gain from playing volleyball. The exercise aspect from it alone is great for your body weight, your muscle tone and will help work your heart to make it stronger.

17. Beach Volleyball made its first appearance at the Olympics in 1992, as a demonstration, and it was included as an official Olympic sport 4 years later.

18. Beach volleyball has become a global sport, with international competition organized by the FIVB. USA and Brazil are the two most successful nations in Olympic beach volleyball.

19. Another interesting variation on volleyball is Footvolley, which is played such that you are only allowed to use your legs or feet to handle the ball, which is a football one. Footvolley was created by Octavio de Moraes in 1965 in Brazil.

20. Footvolley started in Rio de Janeiro because football was banned on the beach, but volleyball courts were open. The first game of footvolley was played in Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

21. Teams of footvolley had 5 a side initially. Due to the skill level of the then footvolley athletes (nearly all were professional football players); the ball would rarely drop. Thus, the players began lowering the number of players on each side, eventually settling on 2 versus 2, which is still in use today.

22. The first event of importance outside Brazil happened in 2003 at Miami Beach. The US Footvolley Association demonstrated the sport at that year’s Fitness Festival where it turned heads.

23. There was a famous Pepsi advertising campaign in 2009 that had the participation of football players Lampard, Kaka, Henri, Torres and Messi.

24. In the 80s footvolley arrived in Europe via Portugal. A Portuguese immigrant, Mr Julião Neto, returned from Brazil and introduced the sport to the local youth. In the next years, several football players started competing and footvolley was spread all over Europe.

25. Paraguay was the first world champion of footvolley. The Paraguayan Jesús is considered the best player in the World Championship.

Merry Christmas everyone!

26. First official footvolley tournament was organized in the 1990s on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

27. In 2011 UAE hosted the Footvolley World Cup with the participation of 27 countries. The event was the first official cup belonging to the International Federation of Volleyball.

28. Every year, several major events are held at beautiful beaches across the globe. For example, USA Footvolley organizes competitions and other events to promote the sport in its home base of Florida as well as other parts of the country such as Virginia and California.

29. Another interesting variation on volleyball, which is significantly more physically demanding, is Hooverball, invented in 1929 by White House physician Admiral. Joel T. Boone to keep president Herbert Hoover physically fit.

30. If you are stressed out, volleyball is a great game for you. With the combination of the quick reactive movements, hands-on hard-hitting of the ball and the constant sprints around the court, you are able to burn a lot of energy and stress.

31. Hoover-ball is basically a combination of tennis, volleyball and medicine ball (a weighted ball roughly the diameter of the shoulders, often used for rehabilitation and strength training).

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