Leonard Gibson was born in 1903 and grew up on a farm near Jacksonville, Texas. During high school and college he participated in basketball and baseball, however, it wasn't until he was 29 that he was introduced to volleyball.

He started playing volleyball at the Stockton YMCA in California just for exercise, but within the year he had started playing competitively. In 1946 he put together a team for the Stockton YMCA that played games nationally finishing first twice (1953 and 1955).

Gibson was a director and officer of the USVBA for many years serving as a region 12 representative. He also represented the USVBA on the international level as the top representative from 1973 through 1980. He has also held positions as the treasurer for the USVBA, chairman of the Committee on International Sections, member of the U.S. Olympic Volleyball Committee and he was also elected as a member of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball.

In 1979 Gibson received the Frier Award, the USVBA's highest honor for service. In 1977, he received the Neville "Doc" Booth Award for significant service within the USVBA regions and in 1960 he received the Leader in Volleyball Award for over twenty years of service.