History of Volleyball 1947 to 1975
History of volleyball with an Australian focus.
There does not seem to be any documents with a complete history of Australian volleyball, so if you are able to add or correct any of this information we would like to hear from you. volleyball@musa.net.au
1947
The Federation Internationale De Volleyball (FIVB) was founded by 14 National Federations (USA, France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Egypt, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Brazil, Uruguay and Yugoslavia) in Paris, France. Its mandate was to organise international competition and develop standardised volleyball rules worldwide.
1948
The rules were clarified and rewritten to aid in interpretation. Blocking was defined and the service area stipulated as being the right third of the back line. Other items clarified were: each player should be in his own area before the ball leaves the server's hands; points made from wrong server were cancelled; simultaneous hits by two players constituted one hit; time out for rest was one minute; time out for injury was five minutes; time out between games was three minutes.
1949
(The first men's World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Soviet men defeated the Czech's 3-1. After 54 years, women got their first chance to play competitive volleyball.
1951
Rules were changed to allow the hands to pass over the net under certain conditions (for blocking).
1952
The first women??s world championships were held in Moscow. The Soviet Union team won the championship.
The Administrative Committee of the USVBA changed the name "Volley Ball" to be one word, "Volleyball".
Changes to volleyball rules: any player was allowed to block at the net; a 7-foot line drawn back and parallel to the net as a restraining line for back court players blocking at the net; the restriction was lifted on players leaving their position to perform any play except the back line spiker; a defensive player, when blocking, must indicate whether or not they touched the ball; the server was allowed to serve the ball from anywhere back of the service line; teams were allowed to warm up during time out for rest or for injury; the players were allowed to leave the court without the referee's permission; the coach, captain, or manager was allowed to call time out.
1953
Changes to volleyball rules: the rubber ball was ruled legal; a substitute was allowed to re-enter the game twice instead of once; players were allowed to use any part of the body to play the ball; the whole format of the rules was changed and each rule items was numbered from 1 to 75 under 8 major headings; errors and fouls were defined.
1955
The Asian Volleyball Conference was founded in Manila (? 1954).
1956
The Dutch Sports Committee introduce a new game called Sitting Volleyball, a combination of sitzball and volleyball for disabled athletes.
Changes to the volley ball rules: the players were allowed to stand anywhere in the court during the serve as long as they were in rotation order; teams automatically changed courts during the third game of a match when one team reached 8 points or 4 minutes of play-time expired.
1957
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) designated volleyball as an Olympic team sport, to be included in the 1964 Olympic Games.
1959
International University Sports Federation (FISU) held the first World University Games in Turin, Italy. Volleyball was one of the eight competitions held.
1960
Hirofum Diamatsu and his Nishibo Spinning Mills Club team compete as the Japanese National team. Using an adaptation of the judo shoulder roll, the women on the team were encouraged to go after any ball aggressively. The team was undefeated between 1960 and 1964 and dominated the 1964 Olympic games in Tokyo. In this same period, new techniques including the soft spike (dink) and blocking along the length of the net, were added to the game.
Changes to the volley ball rules: women's net height was lowered to 7 feet 4 inches; teams were to alternate the initial serve of each succeeding game in a match.
1964
Volleyball was introduced as a medal sport to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese volleyball used in the 1964 Olympics, consisted of a rubber carcass with leather panelling. A similarly constructed ball is used today.
With 89.5% of the nation watching on television, the Japanese women won the first Olympic gold medal.
1966
Renegades Volleyball Club was formed with a team of 7 men competing in what was then Division 1 of the Metropolitan Volleyball Association, the premier competition in Victoria at that time. The team was based at the Footscray YMCA and included four players who also represented the Victorian and Australian teams.
In August 1966, an invitation was extended by the Victorian Amateur Volleyball Association (VAVA) to play in the first State-wide event at Monash University. Geelong and Bendigo accepted the invitation with Melbourne represented by Sisu.
For Bendigo players at least, this was the first exposure to "international rules", which prevented upward scoops with open hands, introduced an action called a "dig" and seemed to penalise most overhead actions using the fingers as "double hits".
The first Morwell volleyball tournament was held in December. The date of this annual competition has varied over the years, moving from December to August after State League finals and in 2003 to October due to Victorian Volleyball League dates changing.
1968
The Victorian Regional Council of YMCA??s proposed the first Victorian YMCA Championship in Warrnambool on 30th March, 1968, with an entry fee of $4.00 per team. Subsequent regional volleyball events were held in Ararat and Geelong.
Renegades competes in the first Warrnambool volleyball tournament.
An attempt was made to draw USVBA rules and International Rules together, causing several major changes to be made: definition of fouls changed to include ball-handling errors; ceiling minimum height was raised to 26 feet; lines depicting the 10-foot serving area were added to the court; the server was required to toss the ball into the air when initiating the serve; the spiking line was moved from 7 feet to 10 feet back from the net; blockers were allowed to reach across the net as long as they did not contact the ball until after the attacker had contacted it; one player from the rear could block but at no time could there be more than three players deployed in position to block; back line spikers were allowed to land in front of the spiking line as long as they left the ground behind it; the ball could not be played with any part of the body below the waist.
1969
Changes to volleyball rules: only front-line players were permitted to block; a team was limited to 12 substitutions per game.
1970
The Melbourne University men??s volleyball team have their first recorded entry at the Australian University Volleyball Championships, finishing 4th (out of 5 competing teams).
The first beach volleyball event played at Hermosa Beach, USA, is won by Ron Von Hagen and Henry Bergman.
1971
The first FIVB coaching courses were held in Japan and Egypt.
1972
The Melbourne University women??s volleyball team win their first of seven consecutive Australian University Championships.
1973
The first Women??s World Cup is held in Uruguay.
The South Australian Volleyball Association league competition was based at the Bedford Park Teachers College, now known as the Sturt Campus of Flinders University.
Eric Hayman elected president of Volleyball Victoria (formerly Victorian Amateur Volleyball Association (VAVA)).
A re-organisation of the VAVA saw the proposal to create separate Victorian Country and Metropolitan Volleyball Councils. The VCVC was established in 1974 and took over the organisation of the Victorian Country Championships.
1975
The first Asian Championships were held in Melbourne, Australia, with the Australian men's team achieving fourth place.
The Melbourne University men's volleyball team win their first of six consecutive Australian University Championships.
For more information about the history of the Renegades Volleyball Club check the History of the Melbourne University Renegades Volleyball Club.
