L' Inglese nel Volley

Hi!!

For me volleyball is life, while I play I feel free and alive with it I feel emotions, joys, fears, anxieties, tears, labors and disappointments. I love to defend, throw myself for that ball, I love to attack ... crush as hard as I can ...

I often wonder what my life would be like without volleyball and I will never stop thanking its inventor William Morgan. I'll tell you something about him ...

WILLIAM MORGAN 

William G. Morgan was an American physical education instructor and inventor. Starting from 1890 he was a physical education teacher at a YMCA college in Holyoke (Massachusetts), where he contributed to the invention of modern volleyball and its development.

Morgan was born in Lockport (New York) in 1870. His father ran a boat yard for the construction of river boats, where young William worked before moving to Springfield (Massachusetts) to study. In college he was a good footbal player, and after completing his studies he moved to Holyoke to start teaching.

After several years of teaching at various YMCA colleges, Morgan returned to Lockport in 1910, where he worked in the commercial branch for companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse.

Morgan invented volleyball in 1895, when he was director of Holyoke's Ymca. This sport was conceived as a game to be played indoors in the winter season, and was born from the combination of elements taken from other disciplines such as handball, tennis and basketball. Morgan chose the name of mintonette for his game, deriving it from badminton.

He died in Lockport on December 27, 1942. On his plaque placed in the local Glenwood cemetery you can read: "MORGAN, William G., Inventor of Volleyball".

Althougt the authorship of the invention was recognized to him, Morgan did not live long enough to see his sport achieve the popularity it enjoyed later.

Today volleyball is affected by the influence of its inventor, in fact ...

... Did you know that there are some words of volleyball that have not been translated into Italian, and are in fact English words?  

 Here are some.

• Set: each section into which the game is divided. In total there are 5, of which the first 4 of 25 points, the last of 15.
• Tie-break: it's the last set of the game, the shortest
• Set point: eventual last action of a team to obtain the victory.
• Pipe: particular type of attack made at the limit of the three-meter line. It is difficult to perform and therefore requires a lot of skill. Despite being an unpredictable blow, it must be reported in advance to teammates.
• Ace: serve that immediately touches the opponent's field gaining a point in favor of the team.
• Time-out: temporary suspension of the game requested by a team, generally to receive instructions from the captain or to replace players.