One Man Volleyball Team Beats the Odds

Bob Holmes’s volleyball career began when he visited his doctor because of back pain.  His doctor told him that he needed to exercise more.  Bob took up volleyball.  He hadn’t played the sport in high school or college but took an immediate liking to the game.

Fast forward several years, Bob was recognized by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, as the athlete who has played the most games in any sport.  He’s played some 17,000 games of volleyball in over 5,500 gymnasiums.  And get this, he’s a one-man team.  He bumps to himself, sets to himself and then spikes on many points.  He has single-handedly taken on volleyball teams at all levels of play.

One Man Volleyball Star Bob Holmes takes on the class

In match-ups against athletes from other sports, he’s beaten 6-man teams representing the Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and the Buffalo Bills (3 times!).  As if playing against 6 players isn’t hard enough, he’ll sometimes take on 100 people at a time, and beat them.

“My most memorable victory was against the Baltimore Orioles,” said Holmes, “A lot of their players play a lot of volleyball, and so they were really good.  We were tied 24 – 24 in the final game before I won by 2 points.”

With a winning percentage that rivals the Harlem Globetrotters, Holmes has only lost only a few hundred games. Holmes’ volleyball game is punctuated by some crazy spins on his serves and his uncanny ability to spike from anywhere on the court.  These tools have enabled him to beat some pretty athletic teams — he’s even beaten some club volleyball teams and a first-place beach team.

Motivated by his mission to rescue lives by trying to put an end to bullying, drug and alcohol misuse, and suicide; Bob began putting on one-man vs. entire team volleyball exhibitions as a way of generating interest for his message.  A typical exhibition for him is at a high school assembly where he’ll play 3 games:  one against a team of students, one against teachers and one against a combined teacher/student team.  The games take about 45 minutes to an hour to play and in his remaining time, Bob spreads his message about the importance of standing up for yourself and making good decisions.

“The hardest thing about playing by myself is that I average about 50-70 games a week and it is sure a drain on my electrolytes,” said Holmes.  However, it’s clear that Holmes loves what he’s doing.

Recalling a letter he received from a boy who had bought rope to hang himself, but changed his mind after hearing his presentation, Holmes knows that the volleyball games are just the attention getter for a more important message.  Holmes said, “I just wanted to rescue lives and that is what motivated me to play so many games.”

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Visit Bob’s website  www.beatbob.com for information on how to schedule a volleyball exhibition for your school or company.

One Man Beating the Odds: The Bob Holmes “One Man Volleyball Team” Video

Volleyball award certificates and coaching forms. Recognize your players with these stylish awards. Personalize with players’ names, team name and individual words of praise. Print as many as you like for your team. Go to www.coachingwhiz.com

History of Volleyball and Amazing Volleyball Rallies

Can you name the inventor of basketball?  No problem for most sports fans:  James Naismith.  Now quick, name the inventor of volleyball.  Not many folks know that it was a gentleman by the name of William Morgan.

Combining elements of handball and tennis, he invented the game that he called, “Mintonette,” as an indoor past time.  Morgan was a physical education teacher in Holyoke, Massachusetts, for the YMCA.  At about the same time, just 10 miles down the road in Springfield, Massachusetts, the game of basketball was just taking off.

Morgan’s first rules established a net 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) high, a 25×50 ft (7.6×15.2 m) court, and any number of players.  A match was composed of nine innings with three serves for each team in each inning, and no limit to the number of ball contacts for each team before sending the ball across to the opponent.  Two serves were allowed if you missed the first.  Hitting the ball into the net was considered a foul (with loss of the point or a side-out)—except in the case of the first-try serve.

After noticing the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition in 1986, an observer named Alfred Halstead, suggested that it should be called “volley ball,” and the new name stuck.  It took until 1964 until volleyball became an official Olympic sport.

Perhaps nothing captures the essence of the sport as well as a long, well-played rally.  Check out these videos below of some amazing points.

Amazing Volleyball Rally Video

The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (white jerseys) took on the #1 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears (green jerseys). British Columbia was up 1 set to 0, and 14-11 when this point took place. British Columbia upset Alberta 3-1 in this CIS Canada West conference match that took place on November 4, 2005.

A 43 second volleyball Rally

Another Long Volleyball Rally Video

Volleyball award certificates and coaching forms. Recognize your players with these stylish awards. Personalize with players’ names, team name and individual words of praise. Print as many as you like for your team. Go to www.coachingwhiz.com