Dr. Frantisek Stibitz was one of the founding fathers of the FIVB, representing Czechoslovakia at the inaugural FIVB organization meeting in April 1947. He was truly one of the fathers of the FIVB and world volleyball. In 1966 he was named a member of the FIVB Rules of the Game Commission (RGC), which he then headed from 1978 to 1980. Among his many ideas, the FIVB approved his proposal for using paddles for substitutions that is still used today. In 1977, Dr. Stibitz submitted to the FIVB a first draft of a completely new guide which explained in detail all the rules and the terminology to be used while carrying out any volleyball competition. This document was approved during the 1980 Olympic Games. In 1950 Dr. Stibitz started working actively as a member of various commissions in charge of defining both the rules and the terminology for various disciplines, namely basketball, volleyball and judo. In 1998 he was appointed as an honorary member of the Czech Volleyball Federation and simultaneously inducted into
its Hall of Fame. He devoted his last years to the establishment of the Czech Volleyball Hall of Fame. In addition to his leadership roles, Dr. Stibitz led the Egyptian volleyball team to two gold medals at the Pan –African and Pan-Arabic Championships in 1965 and 1966, respectively. Dr. Stibitz passed away on March 3, 2008.
