Interest in boys’ volleyball spikes, meeting set for Feb. 22

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photo or infographic by Julia Humphries

OLD GAME. NEW PLAYERS. Boys volleyball is coming. All students interested in playing should attend the meeting on Feb. 22.

Students buzz with excitement as flyers posted in the hallways read of a new sports team. Male students have expressed an interest in playing volleyball, and Coaches Stephanie Shelly and Megan Storms have helped to give them a chance. The coaches have started the process of introducing a boys volleyball team to the school.

There is meeting for interested players on Feb. 22 in the small gym at 3:15 p.m. The meeting will details on prerequisites, tryouts, practice dates and times. This newly implemented athletic team will allow for more gender-inclusive participation within the sport.

“There has been a lot of interest these past few years, and a lot of guys have been asking and wanting to play volleyball,” Storms said. “I thought that it would be [worth seeing] how much interest there would be and kind of go from there. Shelly was the one who talked about it with fellow coaches to see if it was really something that could be doable.”

The interest in male volleyball is growing in Texas and substantially increasing over state lines as well.

“I think boys volleyball is actually growing a ton,” Storms said. “I know [California is] one of the places that it’s becoming very big and even falling collegiately for men, which is a really big deal. I think it is a sport that is definitely growing for guys.”

Willis will be one of many schools in the area with this team. There are multiple schools nearby that have also begun to introduce Boys Volleyball into their athletic department.

“I know Conroe High School has a really big program, and I know The Woodlands has Boys Volleyball too,” Storms said. “I think that College Park does as well. Different schools are either just starting [out] or have already had it within the past couple of years.”

Since this has somewhat recently started to take place within high school athletics, it raises questions such as who the team will be playing against.

“That’s something that we’re kind of working out right now,” Storms said. “Still, we are going to start with the guys who are at Willis just playing each other, and then if we feel like they’re ready, then we’ll branch out and have actual games or scrimmages between other schools.”