One year after volleyball communities made history with the inaugural World Volleyball Day, the second-ever edition on 7 July 2026 saw the sport’s global family return in even greater numbers – and once again, it was the actions and contributions of FIVB’s friends and stakeholders around the world that helped to give the day its extraordinary reach and impact.
Building on a first edition that reached more than 280 million people across social media and generated over two million interactions, the Global Volleyball Movement including National Federations (NFs), Continental Confederations and Zonal Associations, partners and sponsors, embraced this year’s theme, #VolleyballYourWay, celebrating the sport in every form, in every corner of the globe.
The day was celebrated extensively at Volleyball House in Lausanne, where the FIVB opened its doors to the local community for an afternoon of play. French Olympians Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat joined Latvian Olympians Tina Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova on court alongside children from local schools, community volleyball groups, and FIVB and Volleyball World staff – a fitting reflection of what World Volleyball Day is all about.
NFs including future hosts of FIVB events, such as USA Volleyball, Volleyball Canada and the Qatar Volleyball Association, marked the day with celebrations of the sport’s place in people’s lives, both online and on court.
Elsewhere, FIVB friends and partners used the day to engage their communities and bring people together – young people especially. In India, FIVB partner the Kalinga Institute of Technology (KIIT) celebrated with the country’s next generation of stars; in Doha, the Qatar Foundation brought together more than 150 young people from across the country; and in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the birthplace of volleyball, the International Volleyball Hall of Fame staged a full day of celebrations – read more here.
Oceania brought both creativity and community spirit to the celebrations. Volleyball Australia produced one of the day’s most eye-catching posts, flying a World Volleyball Day banner across Sydney Harbour – AI style! – taking the sport’s global celebration to one of the world’s most iconic landmarks.
Competitions and leagues from the sport’s booming professional scene joined in too, sharing their celebrations with millions of followers, including League One Volleyball (LOVB), the SV League, Major League Volleyball and NCAA volleyball in the United States, and India’s Prime Volleyball League. In South America, NFs across the continent once again used their platforms to celebrate the sport’s universal appeal, while across Africa, NFs marked the day by highlighting volleyball’s power to strengthen bonds and create opportunity in their communities, both on and off the court.
The FIVB Volleyball Foundation and its certified projects also played a central role, using the day to showcase how volleyball drives positive change in society. Among them was the Brahmaputra Volleyball League in Assam, India, which continues to demonstrate the sport’s power as a platform for education, opportunity and long-term community investment.
Volleyball’s commercial family got involved in style. Long-standing FIVB partners Mizuno and Mikasa, along with the Nike volleyball circuit, marked the occasion on their platforms – and World Volleyball Day was even displayed across Times Square in New York City.
Beyond the volleyball world, the day was once again championed by the wider sporting family, with the Olympics’ own channels, the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and the International Testing Agency all celebrating volleyball’s global day. And, as ever, the sport’s stars lent their voices, with professional players past and present – including Thailand’s legendary setter Nootsara Tomkom – sharing personal reflections on what volleyball means to them.
While we won’t be able to feature every single celebration from across the Global Volleyball Movement, we have loved seeing each and every one. From every continent and every corner of the world, the second-ever World Volleyball Day proved that a tradition launched only a year ago has already become a truly global celebration – one that continues to grow.
See you in 2027!
