IG07 Sports

Volleyball is over a hundred years old. The sport, which originated in the US, is now said to have 800 million players worldwide who play at least once a week.

In 1895, (two years after the invention of basketball) William G. Morgan, an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association in Holyoke, Massachusetts, came up with the idea for the sport.

He decided to blend elements of tennis, basketball, baseball and handball to create a game for his classes of businessmen which would demand less physical contact than basketball.

The game was called Mintonette. He used the bladder of the basketball to provide a lighter ball with a more lively bounce and borrowed a tennis net and raised it six feet six inches above the ground.

During the game, someone remarked to Morgan, that the players seemed to be volleying the ball back and forth and perhaps Volleyball, would be a better name for the game.

On July 7th in 1896 the first Volleyball game was played at Springfield College and in 1900 a special ball was designed especially for the sport.

Pythagoras Indoor Hall.

In Rhodes

Both Volleyball and Beach Volley are very popular in the island, as they are all over Greece, and because of this Beach Volley has been included in the competition schedule.

The organisers have previous organised three FIVB World Beach Volleyball Championships.

The Volleyball tournament will be held in the Petaloudon Indoor Hall which houses two courts, and the Diagoras Indoor Hall. Beach Volley will be held in the new constructed courts in the Kalipatira Sports Complex.