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Volleyball

Explorer · ages 7 and underAdapted from Wikipedia
Brazil's men's volleyball team celebrates a win over France at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where they advanced to the quarter-finals.

What Is Volleyball?

Volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of six players. A net separates the two teams. Each team tries to land the ball on the other team's court to score points.

Volleyball has been part of the Summer Olympic Games since Tokyo 1964. Beach volleyball, which is played on sand, joined the Olympics at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics. At the Summer Paralympic Games, players enjoy a version called sitting volleyball.

Where It Began

William G. Morgan invented volleyball in 1895. He worked at a YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He wanted a game that was easier on the body than basketball. At first, he called it "mintonette." Later, people began calling it volleyball, and the game spread to many countries.

Playing the Game

Each rally starts when a player serves the ball over the net. A team may touch the ball up to three times before sending it back. Jumping high is an important skill, so players often reach up high to hit the ball.

Volleyball has many fun cousins. Some people play on sand, some play in shallow water, and some even play with a towel!

Quiz time!

3 questions about Volleyball

Question 1 of 3

How many players are on each team?

Pictures

Young members of the German Baptist Brethren Church play a game of volleyball together.
William G. Morgan, the inventor of the sport of volleyball.
Japanese American women playing volleyball at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in the 1940s, with mountains and simple wooden buildings in the background.
A men's volleyball match between TSV Unterhaching and VfB Friedrichshafen, played in August 2012 at the Small Olympic Hall in Munich as a pre-season warm-up game.
Buddhist monks playing a friendly game of volleyball in Sikkim, India.
A scorers' table at a volleyball match, where officials keep track of the points and substitutions during the game.
A volleyball player leaps high to serve the ball during a match between the German and Japanese national teams in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2011.
A player crouches low to receive the volleyball during an outdoor game.
A volleyball player jumps high to set the ball during a game.
Israel Rodríguez spikes the ball during a volleyball match between Spain and Portugal at the Europa Arena in Leganés, Spain.
Three Serbian volleyball players jump together to form a triple block against a Chinese player during a 2017 Volleyball World Grand Prix match.
A volleyball player dives low to the grass to make a defensive dig and keep the ball in play.
The U.S. women's volleyball team huddles together during a match against the Netherlands at the 2007 Military World Games in Hyderabad, India.
A volleyball court
Rotation pattern
An international match between Italy and Russia in 2005; the Russian player on the left has just served with three men from his team next to the net moving to their assigned block positions from the starting ones. Two others, in the back-row positions, are preparing for defense. Italy, on the right, has three men in a line, each preparing to pass if the ball reaches him. The setter is waiting for his pass while the middle hitter (#10) will jump for a quick hit if the pass is good enough. Alessandro Fei (#14) has no passing duties and is preparing for a back-row hit on the right side of the field.
Beach volleyball at the Hietaniemi Beach in Helsinki, Finland

Keep exploring

Holyoke, Massachusetts
Team sport
Summer Olympic Games
1964 Summer Olympics
Beach volleyball
1996 Summer Olympics

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Volleyball, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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