The history of volleyball in Mexico dates back to 1917, when it was introduced in the country. In 1895 William G. Morgan, an instructor for the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Massachusetts, United States, decided to combine elements of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball to create a sports game.
Primarily, this sport was created out of the need for the business class to play a sport with less physical contact than basketball.
At that time volleyball was called mintonette. William G. Morgan took the tennis net and raised it 6 feet 6 inches above the ground, just above the average man's head. Little by little volleyball and its rules began to spread throughout South America and the rest of the world.
During 1917, a group of Christian men who were part of the YMCA brought volleyball to Mexico. Three years later, this game began to be declared as a national sport.
From then on it was implemented as a compulsory sport taught in schools, as it was seen as beneficial to people. Its popularity was such that little by little tournaments began to be held between schools.
Eventually Mexico hosted the Pan American Games in the mid-1950s, and its volleyball team achieved the Gold medal, consolidating its position in sports. From that moment, a great volleyball tradition was born in the country.
Volleyball in Mexico
the beginning
Although it was born in the United States at the end of the 19th century, volleyball began to spread to other countries in the first decade of the 20th century. In 1916 the official rules of this sport were created.
A year later, volleyball was brought to Mexico. This happened when some people who belonged to the YMCA Christian youth society decided to bring the sport to the region.
Oscar Castillón (one of the volleyball teachers of this association) extended in the city of Monterrey and encouraged the inhabitants of the area to learn to play it. For his part, another of the YMCA members - named Enrique Aguirre - took him to the capital: Mexico City.
From there, little by little volleyball began to become popular in Mexico. In 1920, coach Leoncio Ochoa pushed for the sport to be implemented in the country's preparatory schools; In the end, it worked and managed to push it forward.
The government approved its introduction into the academic sports programs of schools. In this way, it began to be introduced in schools throughout the country, since a national budget was approved for its introduction.
A year later the first volleyball tournaments were held in Mexico; one at the National Preparatory School and one at the YMCA headquarters. These tournaments took place within the framework of interscholastic leagues.
In 1927 the First Volleyball Student Championship took place. Something important to highlight about this historic event is that the sport began to become official for women; on this occasion, seventeen men's teams and four women's teams participated.
Consolidation
In 1929 volleyball was consolidated as a national sport when the Great National Athletics and Sports Competition was held. The idea was to choose the team that was going to represent Mexico in the Central American and Caribbean Games, to be held in Cuba next year. Seventeen teams participated and the one from Nuevo León won.
In 1930 Mexico won the gold medal of the men's branch in that championship. This was especially striking given that volleyball was barely spreading in the rest of Latin America at that time.
Just three years later, coach Juan Snyder founded the Mexican Volleyball Federation. Thanks to this, it was possible to gather and train better players in this discipline. In 1935, the Mexican women's team participated in the Central American Games in the Caribbean and won the gold medal.
In 1941 the Federation changed its president and Amado López Castillo was elected. That same year, the First National Women's Volleyball Championship was held in Mexico City.
In 1955, Mexico won the gold medal in the women's category and the silver medal in the men's category at the Pan-American Games held in the country's capital. This was the first time that volleyball was part of the Pan American Games.
In 1962, Mexico again won the gold medal in the Central American Games held in Jamaica. Eight years later they repeated this feat at the Central American Games in Panama.
In 1974 Mexico was the venue for the Volleyball World Cup, the eighth in the men's category and the seventh in the women's category. Most experts assure that the best selection of players existed between the decade of the 60-70, highlighting Amanda Bojórquez and José Luis Cuevas.
Present
Since its consolidation as a national sport, volleyball has played an important role both in the academic life and in the sports culture of Mexicans. This sport is one of the most popular games in this region, especially played by young people.
Its officialization has made it possible for a large number of people to have trained in this discipline and have become experts in this sport. The fact that it is taught in schools as an academic subject has caused its great popularity in the country.
Definitely thanks to this it is possible for people to train from a very young age in this discipline; so they can reach professional levels in adulthood if they wish.
Currently volleyball is considered one of the most important and significant sports in all of Mexican sports history. In recent years, its importance has been such that it has even helped boost tourism in the region.
References
- History of volleyball in Mexico. Recovered from volleyball.mx
- Recovered from olympic.org
- History and organization of volleyball. Recovered from sgr.galeon.com
- History of Mexican volleyball. Recovered from scribd.com
- History of volleyball. Recovered from volleyball.org