The history of VOLLEYBALL in Mallorca started in SOLLER…
The Volley Ball Boys put on their great Carnival show yesterday as always. Their contribution to Carnival is always eagerly anticipated.
Did you know that Volleyball started on this Island in 1931 in Soller? Andrew Ede wrote about this today in the Majorca Daily Bulletin and this is the story of why Volleyball is such an important part of the Soller psyche.
Two brothers Pere and Joan Reynes were the sons of Sollerics who migrated to France for economic reasons. As life improved many migrants returned home to the Soller Valley, in 1931 Pere and Joan were amongst them. They had learned the game in France and volleyball was introduced to the Soller Valley by them.
On 8th May 1932 the first ever volleyball game in Mallorca took place in the Camp d’en Maiol Football pitch in Soller. Volleyball was enthusiastically embraced by Sollerics and eventually in 1942 it was introduced to the schools curriculum of the Convent School in Soller.
The Soller volleyball team JOVENTUT MARIANA became the leading team in the Balearics. Superior even to the American Military team who were based, at the time, on the Puig Mayor Base.
In 2016 the Son Angelats Sports Centre is home to the Volley Ball teams of Soller and hosts many of the islands matches. The sport is not confined to Soller and is played with huge energy, skill and enthusiasm all over Mallorca.
Soller, that ‘Island within and Island’ has yet another reason to be proud of its past.
