| Imagine a ball hit so hard it is coming toward you at a | | | | Official Volleyball Guide lists eighty-nine colleges and |
| speed of 110 miles per hour! The ball is moving so fast | | | | universities, which have varsity or representative |
| you can hardly see it. Your job is to get under this | | | | teams.* The game is one of the strongest intramural |
| flash of white and pass it accurately to the proper | | | | sports in colleges and universities. Volleyball has |
| teammate. He, in turn, then passes the ball up to a | | | | always been an important activity among |
| spiker who jumps high in the air and smashes this | | | | *J. Edmund Welch, ed., 1959 Official Volleyball Guide |
| moving ball with tremendous speed over the net and | | | | (Berne, Ind.: USVBA Printer), p. 141. |
| into your opponents' court. | | | | YMCAs, where the game was invented and nurtured; |
| This is volleyball as played by some of the greatest | | | | Jewish Community Centers; city and industrial |
| athletes in the world today. The game is played in | | | | recreation departments; and American Turners. |
| more than sixty countries and by more than fifty million | | | | The armed services of the United States are one of |
| people each year. In countries such as France, | | | | the big promoters of this sport. The Army and Air |
| Czechoslovakia, Romania, Russia, Japan, Mexico, and | | | | Force have invited outstanding coaches to conduct |
| Brazil, championship matches draw crowds rivaling and | | | | clinics throughout the world. Their command and |
| many times exceeding those at football and basketball | | | | All-World championships are tournaments run with the |
| games in the United States. | | | | utmost attention to color, ceremony, proper procedure, |
| So popular has volleyball become that it is ranked third | | | | and spectator appeal. |
| in the world as a recreational team sport. In at least | | | | Indicative of the interest which the armed services |
| twenty-five countries it is rated as a leading | | | | have in volleyball is the following statement made by |
| competitive sport. Perhaps the greatest advance | | | | Maj. Gen. Herbert B. Powell at the 1957 All-Army |
| occurred in 1957 when the International Olympic | | | | Championships. |
| Committee recognized volleyball as an official Olympic | | | | Volleyball is an integral part of the Army athletic |
| sport. | | | | program, and is highly effective in building the |
| Volleyball was played in the 1955 Pan-American | | | | teamwork required in our military endeavors to gain |
| Games in Mexico City and in the 1959 Pan-American | | | | success in combat. This activity develops the |
| Games in Chicago. The 1958 Asian Games held in | | | | "keenness of eye," muscular coordination, and physical |
| Tokyo featured outstanding volleyball, which attracted | | | | ability needed for the alert and aggressive soldier of |
| large crowds. The 1956 World Volleyball | | | | today. By winning the right to represent your command |
| Championships in Paris drew teams from | | | | in this competition, it has been proven that you have |
| twenty-seven countries and filled the Palais des | | | | attained the above attributes, and I tender you my |
| Sportes on several occasions with crowds of | | | | congratulations. |
| twenty-five thousand people. Another world's | | | | Volleyball is an extremely desirable sport judged by |
| championship occurred in Rio de Janeiro in 1960. | | | | almost any of the criteria used in evaluating activities in |
| In the United States volleyball is played relatively little as | | | | a physical education or recreational program. The |
| an interscholastic and intercollegiate sport. However, | | | | game is sufficiently vigorous, if properly played, to |
| the sport is growing, and athletic directors in schools | | | | develop organic power; it calls for the development of |
| and colleges are looking for ways to add volleyball to | | | | a high degree of neuromuscular co-ordination; as a |
| their competitive programs. Wisconsin, New York, | | | | leisure time activity it must be ranked near the top in |
| Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania hold state high school | | | | the list of games, since it can be played satisfactorily |
| championships. | | | | over such a long period of one's life; and, finally, the |
| Los Angeles high schools held their first city | | | | game stresses the importance of cooperative effort, |
| championships for both boys and girls in 1959. Catholic | | | | thus helping to develop a major quality of the good |
| Youth Organizations sponsor large volleyball programs | | | | citizen. |
| in Pennsylvania and southern California. The 7959 | | | | |