The Growth of High School Boys' Volleyball

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By John Speraw, Head Coach US Men's National Team & UCLA Men's Head Coach

March 12, 2023 - SOMEWHERE OVER THE PACIFIC - On a flight home from Hawaii after the Outrigger Classic, I was reflecting on the recent growth of high school boys' volleyball and so I decided to write down some reflections....

Perhaps one of my favorite responsibilities of serving as volunteer chairman of First Point Volleyball Foundation is participating on the quarterly conference call zooms of First Point's High School Boys' Volleyball Growth Committee - a group of 80+ volunteers now representing all 50 states who are working tirelessly to grow high school boys' volleyball in their respective states.  

It has been six years since Wade Garard and I co-founded First Point during which time NCAA I-II men's volleyball has grown by 42% due largely to the grants First Point has made to start 38 new men's collegiate volleyball programs. Running board meetings, being inspired by and learning from the 21 volunteer board members, and pitching ADs on adding men's volleyball have all been rewarding... but BY FAR the high school committee calls are the most exciting part of my First Point Volleyball Foundation journey.  

Kenny Rogers, one of First Point's volunteer board members, initiated the High School Growth Committee back in 2017 and he started convening volunteers from different states on quarterly zooms to share progress and compare notes/support one another. Some of these volunteers have been working to champion boys volleyball in their areas for years...and others are brand-new advocates for our sport. During each call, Kenny calls the roll and prompts each state's volunteers to report on their efforts to grow high school boys' volleyball in their respective state. This committee has now met 23 times since 2017 and I have never missed a single Zoom meeting. It is just too much fun to hear the progress, share tactics, and applaud the hard work. Frankly, it is inspiring to learn about kids getting opportunities.

Here are the notes we took during the latest First Point Boys' High School Growth Committee call on February 22, 2023. This is not a full and complete set of states notes as Wade only captured some of the most noteworthy. We could have listed all 50 states here as we are seeing growth everywhere!

UPDATE (May 16, 2023):  Last week THREE state high school athletics associations voted to approve sanctioning for high school boys' volleyball.  Minnesota, Kentucky, and Missouri.  WOW!  That makes nine states in less than four years.  The group in Minnesota has been on an emotional roller coaster with several disappointing, close no votes before finally an official YES.  Missouri has been tracking towards sanctioning for a while but last week's vote made it official.  This is big for Kansas City teams too!  Kentucky just came out of nowhere!  Two years of play and Kentucky decided to provide more opportunities!

Indiana - In 2022, IHSAA voted to officially pilot high school boys' volleyball with 3 -year glide path toward official sanctioning. Vote for endorsement caused a huge spike in new teams. Went from 43 high schools in 2022 with varsity teams to 98 teams in 2023. Now over 1,000 boys playing. (None are counted yet on National high school federation numbers)

Utah - Vote to sanction from UHSAA came last year. Prior to the vote last year, UHSAA called for 20% of high schools to sponsor before eligible for sanctioning. Our First Point committee in Utah appealed to lessen the threshold to 15% which passed and made the vote possible for sanctioning. 63 schools sponsored high school boys' volleyball in 2022 and 73 are participating this year (125 teams including JV and Varsity at the 73 schools) Amazingly 2,000 boys tried out for teams.

Ohio - For years the Ohio High School Association suggested that 120 teams were required before sanctioning would be possible. Growth over a decade was steady but still, the number of teams was around 80 going into Covid. Even though it wasn't sanctioned, at least Ohio reported its numbers to NFHS. But then after numerous presentations and appeals to OHSAA, the efforts were successful (thanks also to efforts from the Ohio Valley Region of USA Volleyball, volunteers, staff, and others). OHSAA voted to officially make boys' volleyball part of their emerging sports umbrella with a 2-year path towards sanctioning) and then boom things grew more quickly. In 2022, 92 high school teams participated. This year we have 150 teams!

Minnesota - After several heartbreaking "no" votes, in December the MSHSL board met and approved boys' volleyball as an emerging sport for 2023 and recommended it be fully sanctioned in two years. Thanks to the efforts of many volunteers, the story is really one of very fast growth. In just five years, they went from 0 boys to now over 1,500 boys playing high school boys' volleyball. In 2022, 53 schools sponsored 120 teams. Out of the 1,418 boys who played high school volleyball in 2022, 1 in every 2 identified themselves as an athlete of color.  UPDATE: On May 9th, MSHSL voted YES to sanction high school boys' volleyball.  After a long-time coming, congratulations to the team in Minnesota who has worked tirelessly for this moment.  CONGRATULATIONS MINNESOTA!

North Carolina - Two years ago less than 10 high schools sponsored boys' volleyball and they were all in 1 region of the state. Then volunteers in North Carolina went to social media and the Carolina Region and others went to work promoting the sport. Now in 2023, there are 40+ high schools competing with over 1,200 boys. On a recent conference call by the North Carolina volunteers, representatives from 100 high schools responded showing interest.

Delaware - In Spring 2023, the Delaware high school athletics federation approved sanctioning! DIAA confirmed in a mid-April announcement the inaugural state DIAA Boys’ Volleyball Championships will take place in May 2023. In 2022, 18 high schools had boys' volleyball teams. This year in 2023 that number is 31 high schools! By the way, there are 55 high schools in Delaware that sponsor girls volleyball and the committee reports that they think boys volleyball is on the way to 55!

Oregon - In 2022, there were 5 schools in Oregon sponsoring boys' volleyball. Now in 2023, there are 22 high schools. Like in other states, Oregon boys' volleyball has partnered with girls wrestling to present in April for state sanctioning. This is the 5th state where boys' high school volleyball has risen for sanctioning consideration along with girls wrestling.

Georgia – In 2019 there were 20 teams at high schools in Georgia sponsoring boys’ volleyball and after Covid in 2022, there were 23 teams at 15 school schools. Now in 2023, there are 45 teams at 27 high schools. Leaders in Georgia created their own website (boysvolleyballgeorgia.net) and SRVA is offering $grants to high schools that start or restart teams. In recent surveys, dozens of other high schools have expressed interest. Unlike previous years where teams and interest were centered in a few counties, there are now schools participating or expressing interest from 21 counties across Georgia.

Michigan - In 2022 there were 37 high schools with varsity boys' volleyball (up from 18 in 2020 and 12 in 2019). One year later, in 2023, we have 58 high schools competing from 9 conferences.

Florida - There are 125 high schools in Florida that are competing in boys' volleyball. The committee reports another 25 are in the probationary (formation) stage. This committee reports one of the biggest issues is finding coaches.

Missouri - UPDATE:  Missouri votes yes!  Missouri votes yes! On May 10, 2023 member schools Missouri State High School Athletic Association voted to move the sport of boys' high school volleyball from Provisionally Scholastic Sport to Fully Interscholastic, effective in the 2023-2024 school year.  The sport will be played in the spring and will culminate in a single-class state championship May 26 - June 1, 2024.  CONGRATULATIONS MISSOURI!

Kentucky - In 2019, prior to Covid there were zero high schools competing in boys' high school volleyball. Last year in 2022, there were 14 high schools with teams. Now, in 2023, 29 schools are competing. Kentucky has just sanctioned girls wrestling. Amazingly thanks to the efforts of these volunteers who have held interest calls, 80 additional high schools have expressed in starting boys' volleyball in the next 2 years.  UPDATE:  The hits just keep on coming.  On May 10, 2023 (the same day as the vote in Missouri, Kentucky's state athletics association (KHSAA) officially voted to approve boys' volleyball (along with boys and girls lacrosse)  for state sanctioning beginning the 2024-2025 school year.  Kentucky is the 10th state to vote to approve a path for boys' volleyball to reach full state sanctioning in the last four years.  CONGRATULATIONS KENTUCKY!

First Point Volleyball Foundation has set a goal to have 100,000 boys' playing high school boys' volleyball and have the sport sanctioned in all 50 states by 2028. (Today we are sanctioned in under 28 and have just under 67,000 participating.

It is also worth noting that in addition to our fearless leader Kenny Rogers, we also owe a great deal of gratitude to Scott Siegfried who served on the First Point board from 2017-2022. Scott championed the sanctioning appeal in Colorado and was instrumental in CHSAA officially voting to sanction high school boys' volleyball in 2018. Prior to Colorado, we had not had a state vote to sanction high school boys' volleyball in 15+ years. After spearheading the Colorado effort, Scott then spent numerous hours as a resource to volunteers from over a dozen states during and in between our national committee calls. The by-law Scott drafted (that was adopted by CHSAA) that defined a process for a state high school federation to pilot an emerging sport, is now being used in multiple other states. (Amazing that we found that states did not have a formal process for piloting emerging sports!). Since Scott got Colorado over the

finish line, six states have voted to sanction high school boys' volleyball.

Anyway... I wanted you to know how inspiring I find the work of these volunteers around the country. Having an opportunity for a kid to play for his high school matters a ton. For many boys who cannot afford club volleyball fees, playing for a high school or middle school is the only chance to play competitive volleyball.

Lastly, let me share that boys' high school volleyball was the only team sport in America to GROW coming out of Covid. That's right...our sport got larger coming out of Covid! We have much to be thankful for that has contributed to this growth, not least to mention the growth and popularity of girls' and women's volleyball in the US. And clearly, we have the volunteer members of First Point's High School Growth Committee. Intentional advocacy efforts are working. Together we are providing more opportunities for young people to grow and mature through the sport of volleyball.

If you want more information about how to champion boys' middle school or high school volleyball in your state, please email Wade Garard at wade@firstpointvolleyball.com and Kenny Rogers can include you in our next Zoom invites!

Landed back at LAX! Back to work in the gym helping guys become better people through the sport of volleyball. Thanks, everyone for their dedication to our great game and for helping us provide more opportunities for young people.

John...

John Speraw

Head Coach UCLA Men's Volleyball

Head Coach, US Men's National Team

Co-Founder & Chairman, First Point Volleyball Foundation