Although cricket and soccer might seem to be more popular sports in Sri Lanka, the national sport is actually volleyball.
The origins of volleyball can actually be traced back to the United States. In 1895, Massachusetts Y.M.C.A. director William G. Morgan invented a game he called Mintonette, being inspired by badminton, among other sports, and trying to create a less intensive yet still physically active game. The name “volleyball” actually came later from the nature of the gameplay, which involved volleying the ball back and forth over the net.
While initially established as an indoor game, volleyball can be played indoors or outdoors, and requires minimal equipment: a volleyball and a court with a net. While originally, in informal games, there were no limits on the number of players on each side, the evolution of official rules dictate that there be six players of each team on opposing sides of the net. Each side is allowed up to three hits before the ball must be volleyed back over the net, and the overall goal is to keep the ball from hitting the floor inside the court on the team’s own side of the net.
World championship games were established in 1949 for men and 1952 for women. By 1964, volleyball was an official Summer Olympics sport, and has remained so. Beach volleyball, an outdoor variation played in the sand with two players on each side, became an Olympic sport in 1996.
It is believed that volleyball was introduced to Ceylon quite early in the sport’s history, in 1916, by another Y.M.C.A. director, R.W. Camack. The first volleyball tournament to be held in Ceylon occurred in 1919, indicating how quickly the sport spread and how popular it became within the island. By 1951, the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation was founded, solidifying a formal structure for the sport within the country. The next year, Sri Lanka became a founding member of the Asian Volleyball Confederation.
However, it was not until 1991 that volleyball was officially named as the national sport of Sri Lanka. Considering the other popular choices available, it does seem a rather interesting choice, especially considering Sri Lanka also had long-standing local sports, such as “Elle,” a sort of slow-pitch softball. Furthermore, not many nations officially recognize a sport as a “national” sport. Nevertheless, due to the desire of the Sri Lankan committee to pick a sport which was well-established, associated with no one particular group, religion or ethnicity, and had equipment which was easily available, volleyball was chosen.