According to the Federation of Volleyball of Chile (Fevochi) in its official website, volleyball was created in 1895 by William Morgan who was then director of Physical Education at the headquarters of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) or its acronym in English, from the town of Holyoke, State of Massachusetts, United States.
Morgan had established, developed and directed a vast program of exercises and male sports classes for adults, but felt that another type of competition or activity was needed to increase interest and participation in his program.
At that time, the only organized sport was basketball, created in 1891, so he decided to create a new sport based on his personal experience and methods.
His goal was that this game was as entertaining as basketball but without its potential physical violence and rudeness.
Originally he named it Mignonette and its rules imitated a kind of tennis in teams, where the ball had to pass over a net of 2 meters high, without ever touching the ground on the other side.
Morgan even had to design a new ball, because the basketball was very heavy and slow and using only the inner chamber of this was too light and unwieldy.
Then it was renamed after volleyball and today is one of the most practiced sports in the world.
Through the YMCA, volleyball extended in a short time to Canada, the Philippines, Japan, Burma, China and India and then in South America, Mexico and several countries in Africa.
Today it is an Olympic game and has its own global competitions for men’s and women’s national teams, as well as national competitions with private teams, as well as football, baseball, and other very popular sports.
While some basics of volleyball are the same no matter where you play or who is playing it, the regulations allow you to change the height of the net according to the sex, age, height and physical conditions of the players.
Height of the Net for Male Volleyball
In men’s volleyball, the officially permitted height of the net is 2.43 meters (7 feet with 11.625 inches) and is the same for all types of surfaces.
The volleyball court must measure 8 meters wide and 18 meters long to be considered as regulation.
The net for women should be 7 feet and 4.25 inches (2 m) high.
The official measurement is taken at the center of the network. The height of the net in the margins cannot exceed the height in the center by more than 1.9 centimeters (¾ of an inch).
Height of the Net for Women’s Volleyball
For women’s volleyball, the net must have a height of 2.24 meters (7 feet with 4.25 inches).
The mixed teams use the measure of male volleyball for the height of the net.
Official height according to the age of the players
According to the “USA Volleyball” website, in games by age group, women 45 and older can use a net with a height of 2.19 meters (7 feet with 2 ⅛ inches).
For women 60 years of age or older, the height drops to 2.13 meters (7 feet).
For men 55 years of age or older, the height drops to 2.38 meters (7 feet, 9 1/8 inches) and drops to 2.29 meters (7 feet with 6 inches) for those who are 70 or older.
All children 13 and 14 years old play with a 2.24 meter (7 feet 4 1/8 inches) high net, and children 12 and under play with a 2.13 meter (7 feet) net. or less high.
Modifications
The height of the net falls to less than 1.2 meters (4 feet) and can be modified for wheelchair volleyball.
The World Organization Volleyball for Disabled lists other surface modifications on its website.
Considerations
On sand surfaces, measurements must be taken from level sand.
In the grass, measurements should be taken from the ground, not from the top of the grass.
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