Volleyball has been around for several years and it is a sport that many individuals find interesting. Volleyball components were made up of what we call “racquetball” and other sports (Basketball, Tennis, and Etc). At some point in history, there were times where African Americans weren’t playing in the volleyball Olympics. Volleyball was considered to be a predominately white and Asian sport. There would always be medals given to Asian and white players throughout the Olympics.
Later on, in history, there were African Americans who started playing in the Volleyball Olympics game. In this essay, I will define volleyball, give a brief history of how volleyball was created, and list four African American volleyball players who won medals within the volleyball Olympics. Lastly, I will give my opinion about how successful African Americans were within the Olympics despite the fact that it was a predominately white and Asian sport.
Volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world. Volleyball is a team sport with two, four or six players on each team. Each team is separated on both sides of the net. Each team will try to score a point by getting the ball (making the ball hit the floor) to the opposite side of the court using court rules and regulations. The ball is put into play by a serve which should go over the net to the other team (the ball must clear the net).
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The objective of volleyball is to send the ball over the net so that the other team won’t be able to return the ball to the side where the ball was served from. Players come up with strategies on how to get the ball to go over the net to hit the opposite side to score a point. Each team is given only three hits to have the ball go over the net to the opposite side of each other. After a point is scored players rotate clockwise once a point is scored.
In 1895, volleyball was created in Holyoke, Massachusetts by William Morgan. William Morgan was born in Lockport, New York on January 23, 1870. William graduated from Springfield College of YMCA in 1895. After college William honed skills and knowledge of offensive styles within different sports which later on he created a sport called volleyball. William designed the game to have a combination of other sports such as basketball, baseball, tennis, and more. He originally called volleyball “mintonette” which was developed from a game called “badminton”. Badminton is a sport played using racquets to hit the shuttlecock balls across the net. He developed volleyball from sports training at the YMCA gymnasium. In 1896, William Morgan was asked to show off the sport (volleyball) he was creating at Springfield College of YMCA stadium.
Additionally, after William’s demonstration of Volleyball, his professor name Alfred Halsted decided to name the sport volleyball. Following the approval of the sport being called volleyball, William created rules and regulations for the sport that all players have to abide by. In the 1900s there was a special ball created for the sport (volleyball). The first two-man beach volleyball game was played in Los Angeles, California. Both American men and women took gold and silver awards to volleyball competitions.
In 1996, two-man beach volleyball was introduced to the Olympics. The Olympics teams were predominately white and Asians throughout the early 1900s. The first game was played in Tokyo (1964) which expanded over the United States years later. Volleyball begins to grow internationally through Mexico., Munich, Montreal, London, and more. At this point in time medals and awards were only given to Asians and White people.
Furthermore, there were a few African American players that played in the volleyball Olympic that stood out to me which was Flora Hyman, Megan Hodge, Rachel Adams, and Wilt Chamberlain. Throughout the mid-1900s to the 2000s is when African Americans played in volleyball Olympic games. The first African American to play volleyball was Flora Jean Hyman. Flora was born July 31, 1954, and she was a silver medal volleyball Olympic player. Also, she played professional volleyball in Japan.
In 1981, Flora played in the world cup and won a bronze medal. She was known as the “flying clutch man” because she was very fast, had good spikes, and was good at volleyball. Megan Hodge was a professional volleyball player that was born on October 15, 1968, who was awarded a silver medal. She played for Pennsylvania State University. Megan’s team was the first team of Americans named the NCAA (National Championship Most Outstanding Players). At this moment this is when African Americans were added to the Volleyball Olympics.
Wilt Chamberlain was a 7-foot 1-inch basketball player that played center for the 76ers, warriors, and more. Also, he was an MVP player. After his basketball career ended, Wilt played volleyball for the international Volleyball Association and became president of the organization. Wilt was displayed in the hall of fame because of his contribution. Rachel Adams is a professional indoor middle blocker volleyball player. She attended college at the University of Texas Austin where she played volleyball. Rachel was born in Cincinnati, Ohio June 3, 1990. She’s a member of the U.S National Volleyball Team. Rachel Adams is a bronze and gold medalist of the Olympic games (2014, 2016, & 2018 Olympics games, World Championship). Currently, she is still one of the most successful African American volleyball players.
In conclusion, volleyball was created to be a predominately white sport for Asians and whites. Although Asians and white individuals were the ones who created volleyball, African Americans became bronze and gold medalist winners within the volleyball industry. In the mid-1950’s African Americans entered the Olympics and showed that African Americans can be excellent at volleyball just as well as white or Asian individuals. Throughout volleyball history, I am proud to say that African Americans accomplished a lot within the volleyball industry. It shows hard work and dedication from African Americans to achieve awards. There were not many color individuals who won awards or became professional volleyball players in the early history of volleyball. Lastly, this shows that African Americans are just as good as Asian and White individuals.
