Okay, so check this out. I was kicking around some trivia the other day, and the question popped up: “What was volleyball called before it was called volleyball?” I was like, “Uh… good question!” So, naturally, I dove down the internet rabbit hole.
First, I just typed it straight into Google – “the earlier name of the game of volleyball was”. A bunch of links popped up, mostly those quiz sites and stuff. They all pointed to the same answer: “mintonette.” M-I-N-T-O-N-E-T-T-E. Mintonette. Sounded kinda fancy.
But I didn’t wanna just take the internet’s word for it. I wanted to understand why. So, I dug deeper. I started looking for the origin story of volleyball itself.
- I found out that some dude named William G. Morgan invented the game in 1895. He was a physical education director at a YMCA in Massachusetts.
- Apparently, he was trying to create a less strenuous alternative to basketball. Something for the older guys, you know?
- He took inspiration from basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball.
Then I found something cool. Morgan originally called the game “mintonette” because it was similar to badminton. See the connection? Badminton uses a net, mintonette uses a net… makes sense. He even borrowed some of the rules, modifying them, of course.
But here’s the kicker: At a demonstration game, someone noticed that the players were volleying the ball back and forth. Someone, I couldn’t find who, suggested they call it “volleyball.” Morgan was like, “Yeah, that’s way better.” Boom. History.
So, my practice log basically became a mini-history lesson. Started with a simple trivia question, ended up learning about the origins of a game I’ve played a million times. It’s kinda cool how stuff connects, right? Now, next time that trivia question comes up, I’ll be ready!
