12 April . 2018
Sweetwater adds new sand volleyball court
Just in time for spring, a new sand volleyball court is now open for play at the Sweetwater Club. In honor of this newest addition to Sweetwater’s flagship 10-acre recreation and social complex, here are some fun facts about volleyball.
- Volleyball is the world’s second most popular sport. Only soccer ranks higher.
- The game was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, a YMCA instructor in Holyoke, Massachusetts, just four years after the invention of basketball.
- Morgan blended elements of basketball, tennis, handball and baseball to create the new game.
- Volleyball was originally called mintonette, because of its similarity to badminton.
- The first special ball designed for volleyball was introduced in 1900.
- Setting and spiking, an offensive style of passing the ball, was invented in the Philippines in 1916. Americans eagerly adopted the technique and called it the “Filipino bomb.”
- The first recorded match of sand volleyball, also known as beach volleyball, was played in 1930 in Santa Monica, California.
- Volleyball was first a demonstration sport at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. The first medals for volleyball were awarded at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
- The first beach volleyball medals were presented at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
- Volleyball has its own colorful terminology. A pancake is when the palm is flat on the floor and the ball pops up, and play continues. A kong is when a player gets a one-handed block. When a player jumps with the wrong foot first, in an offensive move, it’s called goofy. A joust is when the ball falls directly on top of the net, and two opposing players jump and try to push the ball to the other side.
- The fastest serve has been clocked at 81.84 miles per hour.
Learn more volleyball, fitness, swimming, field sports and other activities at the Sweetwater Club, part of more than 700 acres of parks, trails, recreational amenities and natural open space at Sweetwater.