In April 2021, ESPN announced that it would broadcast all matches of the NCAA volleyball tournaments with commentators. This indicates that volleyball has an increasing fan base at the college level and that volleyball is increasing in popularity. By the 2018-19 season, girls volleyball outperformed girls basketball and became the second-most popular high school sport following track and field, as recent data show.
While most sports are dominated by men, volleyball attracts more female players, even from a young age. There are more volleyball clubs, tournaments, and school teams offered for girls than boys. Girls usually start to play volleyball in middle school or even earlier, since many schools offer volleyball at 5th or 6th grade. Students can join volleyball practices after school and play games with other schools in their league. Those who are interested in playing more volleyball outside of school can join a volleyball club.
Volleyball clubs are the most important organizations in junior volleyball, as that’s where players receive systematic training and learn fundamental techniques such as serving, passing, setting, hitting, and blocking. Many clubs also offer conditioning, which will enhance the players’ strength, agility and endurance. There are many volleyball clubs in the US, especially in states like California where girls volleyball is very popular. Clubs usually offer two types of teams: a power team and a premier team. Power teams expect players to practice at least three times a week, compete at an advanced level, and travel to league tournaments and out of state qualifiers. The goal for those teams is to qualify to compete at the Girls Junior National Championship (GJNC). Many college coaches come to GJNC and recruit players for colleges. Premier teams require less commitment and usually practice twice a week and participate in local tournaments. The players and families can choose the team that best fits their goal and the level of commitment they can offer. Good club teams can be very competitive and difficult to participate in. Clubs usually hold open gyms and tryouts in the fall to fill their teams for the upcoming season which starts in winter, and the season can go into the summer if the team is to compete at GJNC.
Unlike middle school, high school volleyball is much more competitive and many club players also play for their school varsity team. Almost all high schools in the US have girls volleyball teams, and most high schools also have boys volleyball teams too. But girls and boys volleyball are in different seasons. The school leagues are formed based on the school sizes in the region. First, the high school teams compete in their league and the top teams from each league will compete in the regional championship, and the winners of that compete in the state championship. Winning a regional or state championship is a great honor for a school, and players may also earn a scholarship to top universities by playing volleyball.
When you have such a great pool of youth volleyball players, it’s no surprise that the US women’s volleyball team won their first Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Whether the goal is college recruiting, an Olympic dream, or playing a sport out of passion, youth volleyball attracts many young athletes and continues to grow.
Discussion questions:
Why do you think volleyball is more popular among girls than boys?
What are the most popular youth sports in your school/region?
Do you play any sports in school, how do you like it?
Youth volleyball (and other sports) has become more competitive over the years. What do you think of that?
Definitions:
Announced: make a public and formal declaration about a fact, occurrence or intention
Broadcast: transmit (a program or some information) by radio or television
NCAA: National Collegiate Athletic Association
Tournaments: a series of contests between a number of competitors, who compete for an overall price.
Commentators: A person who delivers a live commentary on an event or performance
Outperformed: perform better than
League: a group of sports teams which play each other over a period for a championship
Fundamental: forming a necessary base or core; of central importance
Techniques: skill or ability in a particular field
Enhance: increase, or further improve the quality, value, or extent of
Agility: ability to move quickly and easily
Endurance: the power of enduring a difficult process without giving way
Qualifiers: a person or team that qualifies for a competition or its final rounds
Recruit: enlist (someone) in the armed forces, colleges, or companies
Tryouts: a test of the potential of someone or something
Varsity: the principal team representing a high school or college in a sport or other competition
Passion: strong and barely controllable emotion
