The Origins of Volleyball and the Role of the Sokol Gymnastic Society in Its Development in Slovenia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51663/pnz.66.1.08Keywords:
volleyball, physical education, Sokol movement, Yugoslav Sokol Union, Sokol of the Kingdom of YugoslaviaAbstract
Volleyball is a modern sport, invented and introduced at the end of the 19th century, initially in the USA and then worldwide. During the 1920s, it also reached Slovenia and the wider Yugoslav territory. Sports literature and science link the introduction of the new sport to a Red Cross course in 1924, while the Sokol organisation played a significant role in its professional and organisational development. However, this has not yet been thoroughly researched. Therefore, this article focuses on the initial development of volleyball within the Sokol gymnastic society and in the context of this organisation’s physical education, which served as the starting point for the sport’s development after World War II and its transition from a gymnastics discipline to a sports discipline. Due to the lack of primary sources, the research relied on this organisation’s periodicals, specifically its main newsletter, Sokolski glasnik.
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