The Volleyball

Is a sport played by two teams of up to 12 people (13 if a team decides to deploy a second free). Each team in field 6 players with a ball on a rectangular pitch divided by a net. Other athletes will be ready on the bench.

THE HISTORY Since ancient times there were ball games that can be considered the predecessors of volleyball. In ancient Greek and Roman games, for example, were performed exercises with the ball for fun and entertainment. In Germany it was introduced in 1893 a game called Faustball, but the merit of the invention of volleyball in modern form, was officially founded in 1895, is recognized in the William Morgan, a physical education instructor at the YMCA college in Holyoke, Massachusetts ( United States). On February 9, 1895 Morgan gathered some teachers college in Springfield for the demonstration of a new sport, which he called Minonette (by minon, kitty, which was the name of a ball game practiced by noblemen and ladies in the first two centuries France). With the help of two teams of 5 members, including the mayor and the commander of the fire in Holyoke, there was the baptism of a new sports game that is very different from other sports in vogue at that time. A distinctive feature was not to predict the physical contact between the participants, so the skill, quick reflexes, concentration ability and agility took the place of strength, quality hitherto primary in sports. But it was Alfred F. Halstead, March 10, 1896, to change the name of minonette, a bit 'too feminine, Volleyball (literally ball shot). He was able to impose this sport in college YMCA located in the United States. Two years later, volleyball are also practiced in most of South America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay). In 1898, the volleyball came to Manila in the Philippines, thanks to an American physical education teacher, just at the Filipino is credited with inventing the "squashed". In China and Japan achieved a stunning success. Arrived in Europe during the First World War. For a long time it was played in two different ways, Western and Oriental, with the so-called rule of three touches. In 1938 introduced a fundamental technique that revolutionized the way people play: the "wall." It was especially the Eastern European countries that used it systematically. In 1947, representatives of 15 associations found themselves in Paris and created the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB).

THE PLAYING FIELD The volleyball games are played indoors in plants where the only limit is the distance between the playing area and the ceiling must be at least 7m. The playing field is rectangular in shape, 18 meters long and 9 wide, divided into two areas of 9 by 9 meters from a network placed vertically. In both sectors are drawn boundary lines that define the playing field from the free zone and the offensive line placed at 3m from the network. The lines of attack are extended beyond the side lines with five sections of 15cm. All lines must be 5cm wide and have a color contrasting with the playing surface. The playing surface, which is constituted by taraflex oparquet, must be flat and smooth, so as to be safe for players.

THE NETWORK The network is placed at a height in its upper part of 2.43 meters for the races male and 2.24 meters for the races female; in youth leagues the height of the network varies depending on the category. The measurement must be carried out in the central part, where the height must be exact, and in correspondence of the two side lines, where it can vary in excess for a maximum of two inches in a symmetrical manner. The network extends from 9.50 to 10 meters in length and one meter in height. Two bands of red and white vertical 5 cm wide and 1 meter high, are fixed in the network exactly on top of each touchline. They are placed antennas that are two fiberglass rods of 1.80 m in height and 10 mm in diameter, painted with alternating bands of two contrasting colors, preferably white and red, each antenna extends to 80 cm of above the network in order to demarcate the space of passage of the ball.

The aim of the game is to drop the ball into the opponent's court (regardless of who touched it last) or outside the field of play after just a touch of an opponent. The matches will be played best of 5 sets, that wins the race, the team that won three, and each set is won by the first team to reach 25 points with at least two points of margin than the opposing team with the exception of the fifth, called tie-break, which is played to 15 with change field to win the eighth point. THE GAME

THE FUNDAMENTAL For "fundamental" means a specific action that accomplishes the volleyball player. They are called "essential" because they must be part of the technical skills of each player and should be learned from an early age regardless of its specialization in the future (central, lateral, opposite, setter, free). In volleyball there are five fundamentals: dribbling, bagher, crushed, wall and service

THE VOLLEYBALL IS A SPORT THAT UNITES AND FUN