Who first played volleyball?
Volleyball
In the winter of 1895[4], in Holyoke, Massachusetts (United States), William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education director, created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton,[5] as a pastime to be played (preferably) indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from other sports such as tennis and handball.[6] Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles (sixteen kilometers) away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette was designed to be an indoor sport, less rough than basketball, for older members of the YMCA, while still requiring a bit of athletic effort.
Dennis Hare
While at San Diego State University Hare started playing volleyball and later moved into beach volleyball. His beach volleyball career lasted between 1968 and 1978. In 1975 Hare and partner, Fred Zuelich, won the first ever Volleyball World Championship held in at the then San Diego Sports Arena. He teamed up with Jim Menges to win the Hermosa Beach Open in 1976. Hare entered and won several other notable tournaments including winning, with his partner, Fred Zuelich, the first commercially sponsored event in 1974, and the first indoor championship, also in that year. He also won three Senior Olympic tournaments, amassing a total of eight career wins. In 2008 he was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Association Hall of Fame.