Volleyball began in the same place as Basketball-a YMCA gym in Massachusetts, USA. In 1895, four years after James Naismith invented Basketball, his friend William G. Morgan came up with a game he called 'Mintonette'-designed as a gentler alternative to basketball for older members of the gym. Mintonette grew into modern volleyball, which is anything but gentle, as players leap and smash their way to success in one of the world's fastest sports. Volleyball was an Asian Games event since 1958 in Tokyo, Japan.