Until the early 1960s, there were only state volleyball competitions in Brazil. A national level competition was inconceivable because of the geographical distances and lack of transportation infrastructure. Only in 1962 the first national volleyball competition was disputed, the Guarani Trophy of Champion clubs (Portuguese: Troféu Guarani de Clubes Campeões).[1] The competition was disputed two more times, being renamed in 1964 to Brazilian Championship of Champion Clubs (Portuguese: Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes Campeões). Between 1965 and 1967 there was a hiatus without a national level competition, until the Brazilian Trophy (Portuguese: Taça Brasil) was organized in 1968 with teams from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The competition was organized in such format until 1975.
Fully national competition and professionalism
Only in 1976, the competition was opened to amateur clubs from all Brazilian states, and became truly national. It was renamed to Brazilian Championship (Portuguese: Campeonato Brasileiro) and was held every second year. In 1980 the Brazilian Championship had a major reorganization, becoming an annual competition and allowing professional teams for the first time. The competition's format changed in 1988, and started to follow the northern hemisphere calendar. Also, it was renamed to Brazilian National League (Portuguese: Liga Nacional). The competition was disputed under this format between the seasons 1988-89 and 1993–94.[2]
The foundation of Super League
There was a last major change in the organization of the competition in the 1994–95 season. Again, it was renamed to Brazilian National Super League (Portuguese: Superliga Nacional). The first champion of the tournament, with the present format, was Frangosul/Ginástica.[3]
The Women's Superliga most successful team have been Rio de Janeiro Vôlei Clube with eleven titles, since the creation of the Superliga, when Leites Nestlé won three consecutives titles from 1994–95 to 1996–97.[3][2]
