Volleyball is a fast-paced team sport where two squads of six players, separated by a net, compete to ground the ball on the opponent's court, and it has been an official Olympic sport since the 1964 Tokyo Games (with beach volleyball added in 1996). The game was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education director in Holyoke, Massachusetts, who created it as a less physically demanding alternative to basketball and originally named it "mintonette." The sport quickly spread globally through YMCA networks, leading to the establishment of the international governing body, the FIVB, in 1947. A rally begins with a serve, and teams are allowed up to three touches to set up an attack, with common faults including net touches, double hits, and foot faults. Over its history, volleyball has evolved sophisticated techniques like spiking and blocking, and its social journey has included diverse communities, from YMCA members to nudists, alongside modern debates about inclusion for transgender athletes.