Volleyball SVG is a sport, a team sport in which two teams compete in a special court, divided by a net, trying to direct the ball on the opponent’s side so that it lands on the opponent’s court (to finish it off), or so that the player of the defending team made a mistake. In order to organize the attack, players of the same team are allowed to make no more than three touches of the ball in a row (in addition to a touch on the block).
The central authority for volleyball as an international sport, which defines the rules, is the International Volleyball Federation, FIVB. Volleyball has been included in the Olympic Games program since 1964.
Volleyball SVG is a non-contact, combinational sport where each player has a strict specialization on the pitch. The most important qualities for players in volleyball are the ability to jump over the net, reaction, coordination, physical strength for effective attacking strikes.
For fans of volleyball, it is a common entertainment and a way of rest due to the simplicity of the rules and the availability of equipment.
There are numerous variants of volleyball that have branched out from the main kind of volleyball – beach volleyball (Olympic kind since 1996), snow volleyball, mini volleyball, pioneer volleyball, park volleyball (approved by the FIVB Congress in November 1998 in Tokyo), sitting volleyball (Paralympic kind of sport).
Origin of modern Volleyball SVG
The inventor of volleyball is William J. Morgan, a physical education teacher at the Young Christians Association (YMCA) College in Holiock, Massachusetts, USA. In 1895, he hung a tennis net at an altitude of 198 cm in the gym, and his students, who were not limited in number on the court, began to throw a basketball over it. Morgan called the new game “Mintonet”. Later the game was shown at a conference of colleges of the Association of Young Christians in Springfield and at the suggestion of Professor Alfred T. Halstead was given a new name – “volleyball”. In 1897, the first rules of volleyball were published in the United States: the size of the court was 7.6 x 15.1 m (25 x 50 feet), the grid height was 198 cm (6.5 feet), the ball diameter was 63.5-68.5 cm (25-27 inches) and the weight of 340 g, the number of players on the court and the number of touches of the ball was not regulated, the point was counted only at their own serving, if it was not successful, it could be repeated, played up to 21 points in the party.
In the process of game development, its rules, technique and tactics were constantly improved. The basic rules, some of which have come to our days, were formed in 1915-1925: from 1917 the drawing of the party was limited to 15 points, and the height of the net was 243 cm, in 1918 was determined by the number of players on the court – six, since 1922 is allowed no more than three touches of the ball, in 1925 approved by the modern size of the court, the size and weight of volleyball. These rules were applied in the Americas, Africa and Europe, while in Asia until the early 1960s they played by their own rules: with nine or twelve players on the pitch 11×22 m without changing positions during the match.
In 1922, the first national competition was held – in Brooklyn, the YMCA championship was held with the participation of 23 men’s teams. In 1924, the Basketball and Volleyball Union of Czechoslovakia, the first volleyball sports organization in Europe, was formed. In the second half of the 1920s, national federations of Bulgaria, the USSR, the USA and Japan emerged. In the same period, the main technical methods were formed – serving, passing, attacking blow and block. On their basis there is a tactic of team actions. In the 1930s, there was a group block and insurance, varied attacking and deceptive strikes. In 1936, at the congress of the International Handball Federation held in Stockholm, the Polish delegation took the initiative to organize a technical committee on volleyball as part of the handball federation. A commission was formed, which included 13 European countries, 5 American countries and 4 Asian countries. The members of this commission adopted the American rules as the main ones with minor changes: measurements were made in metric proportions, the ball could be touched all over the body above the belt, after touching the ball on the block the player was forbidden to touch again in a row, the height of the net for women was 224 cm, the serving area was strictly limited.
After the end of the Second World War (1939-1945), international contacts began to expand. On April 18-20, 1947, the first congress of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was held in Paris with the participation of representatives of 14 countries: Belgium, Brazil, Hungary, Egypt, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, USA, Uruguay, France, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, which became the first official members of the FIVB. In 1949, the first world championship among men’s teams took place in Prague. In 1951, at the Congress in Marseille, the FIVB approved the official international rules, and it formed an arbitration commission and a commission to develop and improve the rules of the game. Substitutions for players and timeouts were allowed, and both men’s and women’s teams were allowed to play in 5 games.
The first president of the FIVB was French architect Paul Libaud, who was re-elected several times until 1984. In 1957, at the 53rd session of the International Olympic Committee, Volleyball SVG was declared an Olympic sport; at the 58th session, it was decided to hold volleyball competitions among men’s and women’s teams at the XVIII Olympic Games in Tokyo. After the Tokyo Olympics, a significant change in the rules of the game was made – the blockers were allowed to carry their hands over the net on the opponent’s side and touch the ball again after blocking. In 1970, antennas were introduced at the edges of the net, in 1974, there were yellow and red cards
The development of the game in the 1980s and 1990s
In 1984, Paul Libo was succeeded by Dr. Reuben Acosta, a lawyer from Mexico, as President of the FIVB. At the initiative of Reuben Acosta, numerous changes have been made to the rules of the game, aimed at increasing the spectacularity of the competition and the “telegenic” volleyball associated with the reduction of the duration of the matches. On the eve of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, the XXI FIVB Congress was held, which adopted changes in the rules of the decisive fifth game: it began to play under the system of “rally point”, or “tie-break” (“drawing – point”), in the 1990s, also set the “ceiling” of 17 points for the first four games (that is, they could end with the advantage of rivals at 1 point with a score of 17:16). There was an experiment with time constraints on volleyball games, but in October 1998, at the FIVB Congress in Tokyo, an even more revolutionary decision was made to play the rally point system for each game: the first four to 25 points, the fifth to 15 points. In 1996 it was allowed to touch the ball with any part of the body (including the leg), in 1997 the FIVB proposed to the national teams to include a liberal player in their squads.
During this period, the technique and tactics of the game continued to improve. In the early 1980’s, jumping serve and almost no longer used side service, increased the frequency of strikes from the back line, changes in the way the ball was received – the previously unpopular reception from below became dominant, and the reception from above with a fall almost disappeared. The volleyball players’ playing functions narrowed: for example, if earlier all six players were involved in the reception, then since the 1980s this element became the responsibility of two additional players.
The game became more powerful and fast. Volleyball has increased the requirements for growth and athletic training of athletes. If in the 1970s the team could not have any player above 2 meters, then since the 1990s everything has changed. In high-class teams below 195-200 cm, usually only the binder and liberal. New teams were added to the number of the strongest ones – Brazil, USA, Cuba, Italy, Netherlands, Yugoslavia.
Since 1990, the World League – an annual commercial competition designed to increase the popularity of volleyball around the world – has been played. Since 1993, a similar competition for women has been held – the Grand Prix. Since the second half of the 1980s the first truly professional league has been created in Italy, the organization of which is becoming an example for national championships of other countries.
In 1985, in Holioca opened a volleyball hall of fame, which includes the names of the most prominent players, coaches, teams, organizers and judges.
Volleyball SVG today
Since 2015, FIVB has united 221 national volleyball federations and is one of the most popular sports on Earth. Volleyball is the most developed sport in such countries as Russia, Brazil, China, Italy, USA, Japan, Poland, Serbia. The current world champion in men’s volleyball is the Polish national team, while the national team of Serbia is the current champion in women’s volleyball.
In 2008-2012, the president of the International Volleyball Federation was Wei Jizhong from China, and on September 21, 2012, the Brazilian Ari Grasa was elected the new president of the organization at the XXXIII FIVB Congress in Anaheim, California.
FIVB management continues to work on improving volleyball rules. Some changes in the interpretation of “touch-and-go” and “set” mistakes on the opponent’s half of the game, clarification of the definition of blocking, expansion of the team’s bid for official international tournaments to 14 players, 2 of whom were liberally approved in 2009 at the XXXI FIVB Congress in Dubai. In the same year, the so-called “golden formula” was tested at the Doha World Cup (this tournament was revived after a 17-year break), according to which the host team must conduct its first attack strictly from the back line. In practice, this innovation, which was designed to help level the playing field and allow the ball to stay in the air longer, not only did not have the expected effect, but also led to a decrease in the entertainment of the game, which was criticized by many players, coaches, professionals and fans of volleyball and was no longer used.
According to the new edition of the rules, which came into force in 2013, the punishment of a player with a yellow card is not accompanied by a loss of a point. In April 2013, it was decided to postpone the implementation of the rule, which toughened the requirements for the receipt of top-down service, and at the same time it was proposed to consider reducing the duration of the party from 25 to 21 points won and reducing the pauses between ball plays. In the same year, the latest innovation was tested in Euroleague tournaments, the World Championships for men’s senior youth teams, Brazilian championships, but was not further expanded. Also, since 2013, at international competitions under the auspices of FIVB and CEV, the system of video reviews is actively used.
On November 1, 2014, at the XXXIV FIVB Congress held in Cagliari, the rule adopted in 2009, which allowed for touching the grid, if it did not interfere with the opponent’s play, was abolished. As before, any touch of the net by the player was considered a mistake. In addition, for international competitions, Congress decided to reduce the size of the free zone from the front lines from 8 to 6.5 m, to include in the application for matches all 14 players admitted to the tournament and the possibility of reducing the number of coaching and/or technical timeouts offered by sponsors and television.