The sport of volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, physical director of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was designed as an indoor sport for businessmen who found the new game of basketball too vigorous. Morgan called the sport “mintonette” because of its resemblance to badminton. However, a professor from Springfield College in Massachusetts noted the volleying nature of play and proposed the name “volleyball.” The original rules were written by Morgan and printed in the first edition of the Official Handbook of the Athletic League of the Young Men’s Christian Associations of North America (1897). The game soon proved to have wide appeal in schools, playgrounds, the armed forces, and other organizations in the United States, and it was subsequently introduced to other countries.
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