High school kids volley ball, among the fastest growing sports in America, is either underway or starts play quickly around the country. This is our two-part take a look at the 28 states playing kids volleyball around the U.S.A., and we understand there are more to come.

The First Point Volleyball Foundation is on an objective to get all 50 states to sanction kids high school volley ball by the Olympics in 2028. 

“More boys are getting a chance to play high school volleyball largely due to the commitment of volunteers around the country,” stated Wade Garard, the CEO and creator of First Point. “What we are discovering from the work being done by members of First Point’s high school development committee is that when an enthusiastic group of volunteers non-stop promote for main status it can take place.  

“No one thought we would be able to get 10 states to vote yes for sanctioning in a seven-year period.”

But that has actually occurred, naturally. Since First Point started its efforts,the following states have actually ended up being approved or are now emerging status:

Colorado
Delaware
Indiana
Kentucky
Minnesota
Missouri
Ohio
Oregon
South Carolina
Utah

What’s more, active efforts are underway in 22 staying states, and working out in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.

We gotten in touch with numerous coaches, administrators and club directors to collect info on the upcoming season with a postseason wrap-up to follow in a couple of months. Please e-mail kevinpratte6@gmail.com to supply info or feedback.

Arizona

Sandra Day O’Conner is the preferred, led by opposite Finn Kearney, outdoors Carter King and setter Keagin Christenson. Trevell Jordan of Desert Ridge, among the leading middles in the nation, who hung around in the U.S.A. fitness center last summer season with Kearny. Challenging Sandra Day O’Connor will be Higley, Highland and Casteel.
Top Programs
1 — Casteel
2 — Highland
3 –Higley
4 – Perry
5 — Sandra Day O’Connor
Players to view
S – Keagin Christenson (Sandra Day O’Connor)
MB — Trevell Jordan (Desert Ridge)
OPP – Finn Kearney (Sandra Day O’Connor)
OH — Carter King (Sandra Day O’Connor)
OH – Connor Oldani (Brophy)
Noteworthy: With regional university Grand Canyon (presently No. 2 in the country) doing so well, more location kids are getting associated with the sport. Fear and Aspire are 2 of the nationwide travel club groups that assist Arizona professional athletes get ready for high school.
Quoteworthy: “I wish I had one more year with all my teammates. I am going to make the most of this season and prepare to play at GCU.” – Trevell Jordan.

Central and Northern California

Top Programs
1 — Clovis East
2 — Clovis
3 — Valley Christian, San Jose
4 — Sanger
5 — Bishop O’Dowd
Players to view:
OH — Tyler Alden (Valley Christian, San Jose) 
OH — Cameron Kosty (Bishop O’Dowd)
OPP – Daniel DeVine (Saint Francis)
OPP — Gurshab Singh (Clovis East)
MB – Lucas Winn (Castro Valley)
Noteworthy: An excellent variety of professional athletes from these areas will dip into high scholastic colleges, consisting of Stanford, NYU, Vassar, MIT, Princeton and Harvard. Many train with the Bay to Bay and Mountain View clubs … Bishop O’Dowd’s Kosty is the child of Stanford males’s coach John Kosty.
Quoteworthy: “I have never had a team like I had last year and am excited for the 2024 season because all key players are returning. With all the obstacles we keep overcoming we can’t help but think that something special must be on the horizon.” — Valley Christan coach Moni Tautu

San Diego

The San Diego CIF Section consists of more than 100 groups and is packed with skill.  There are 5 various areas in San Diego and 6 high schools will be called CIF champs. Top groups receive the Open CIF area competition.  Carlsbad, Torrey Pines, La Costa Canyon, Del Norte and Cathedral Catholic will be the heavy favorites to win an open title.  All these programs have numerous club gamers and lots of are devoted to colleges.
Top programs
1 – Carlsbad
2 — Cathedral Catholic
3 – Del Norte
4 – La Costa Canyon
5 – Torrey Pines
Players to view: 
MB — Maddox Brandenburg (La Costa Canyon)
OH — Christian Connell (Torrey Pines)
MB — Alex Engels (Cathedral Catholic)
MB — Roman Payne (Carlsbad)
MB/OPP — Parker Tomkinson (Carlsbad)
Noteworthy: The Best of The West 32-team competition happens in San Diego and the leading groups from Orange County, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Northern California, Arizona and San Diego contend are all in it. Not remarkably, much of the leading groups at this competition go on to win area and state titles. 
Quoteworthy: “There are some quality teams in San Diego. I expect the usual suspects such as Carlsbad, Del Norte, Cathedral, and Torrey Pines to be the Open contenders. I’m looking forward to seeing how it pans out.” — Head Coach Nick Rubacky of Torrey Pines.
“I am excited going into the season. We have all but two of our starters from our ’23 CIF Championship team. There are a lot of talented squads in San Diego and it should be a competitive season.” — Ryan Enos, Cathedral Catholic.

Southern California Section

The Southern Section is huge and packed with skill. Along the coast, groups like Corona Del Mar, Huntington, Loyola, Newport, Mira Costa and Redondo will be contending for the Division I CIF title. In the Inland Empire, Lake Elsinore, Clairmont, and Upland are anticipated to be amongst the groups to beat. In 2023 Loyola won CIF, State and completed ranked No. 1 in the in last AVCA rankings.
Top Programs
1 – Corona Del Mar
2 – Huntington 
3 — Loyola
4 – Newport Harbor
5 – Mira Costa
Players to view:
OH – Sean Kelly (Loyola)
OH – Victor Loiola (Mira Costa)
S – Jake Pazanti (Huntington)
S – Trent Taliaferro (J Serra)
OH – Marek Turner (Woodrow Wilson)
Noteworthy: Many of the leading NCAA males’s groups lie in this area along with a few of the leading kids club groups. Mira Costa’s Loiola is the child of Brazilian Olympian and beach training terrific Jose Loiola, a UCLA beach assistant coach. 
Quoteworthy: “Every year is a new year and the competition continues to rise with our sport growing at a rapid pace. I’m fired up to start the season, compete and hopefully bring home another championship.” — Loyola coach Michael Boehle, the AVCA 2023 Coach of the year.

Colorado

Top Programs
1 — Cherokee Trail
2 — Douglas County
3 — Mountain Vista
4 — Valor Christian
5 — Legend
Players to view
OH – John Clinton (Cherokee Trail)
S — Jensen Pascua (Douglas County)
OH — Gabe Repplinger (Valor Christian)
OH — Paxton Wright (Legend)
OH — Shawn Zheng (Heritage)
Noteworthy: Colorado has actually been a design state on how to launch kids volley ball. This is the 4th year of sport being approved and the very first year of having 2 classes (4A and 5A).
Quoteworthy: “With more and even better teams in Colorado, state is up for grabs for anyone to win. This year there will be even more upsets, five-set matches and tougher regular-season games.” — Gabriel Repplinger of Valor Christian.

Connecticut

Darien completed 26-0 in 2015, pounding Trumbull to win the state title in a five-set thriller. Darien is led by setter Griffith Crouse and outdoors player Thomas Herget.
Top Programs
1 — Darien
2 — Trumbull
3 — Joel Barlow
4 – Cheshire
5 — Newington
Players to view
OH — Will Allen (Cheshire)
S — Griffith Crouse (Darien)
OH — Alex Llach (Joel Barlow)
OH — Thomas Herget (Darien)
MB — Matti Lilback (Cheshire)
Noteworthy: Connecticut has actually had actually approved volley ball for many years and the sport continues to grow, with numerous brand-new programs this year. The Connecticut Volleyball league was produced in 2015, joining all of the schools in conferences that don’t have a constant schedule within their conference. The CIAC sponsors an in-season competition each spring.
Quoteworthy: “Opportunities for boys to play volleyball continue to grow in Connecticut within high school and also in club. With the addition of the new league in high school volleyball last year, we saw a lot of changes in the postseason tournament qualifications and rankings, so it will be interesting to see how those changes as schedules re-balance this year. It’s an exciting time of growth and also improvement in the level of play of boys volleyball in Connecticut. Looking forward to this spring season.” — Xavier coach Stefanie G. Reay 

Florida

Defending-champ Southwest can be found in as the preferred, led by outdoors player and 2023 state gamer of the year Juanmarco Diaz. Last season, Southwest completed 28-2 record and beat Cardinal Gibbons in 4 sets in the state last. Winter Park, led by setter. Jacob Little Phillips, will challenge.  
Top Programs
1 – King’s Academy
2 – Lake Howell
3 – Timber Creek
4 — Southwest
5 – Winter Park
Players to view
OH – Juanmarco Diaz (Southwest)
OH – JP Candrian (Horizon) 
S – Jacob Little Phillips (Winter Park)
S/OPP – Micah Tumas (King’s Academy)
OH – Tyler Windt (Lake Howell)
Noteworthy: In the previous number of years AAU is where the leading club groups are playing in nationwide competitions. Orlando is the website of the huge AAU Boys Club Championship occasion from late June to early July. All the leading youth volley ball gamers contend in Florida and college coaches will be seeing.
Quoteworthy: “Florida has produced its fair amount of strong collegiate recruits. The past three years athletes went to Long Beach, Ohio State, Lewis, Grand Canyon, Stanford and UCLA, just to name a few. The 2024 graduating class from Florida will continue the trend of producing highly recruited athletes, with the anticipation of even stronger class graduating in 2025 from Florida.” — George Mason assistant coach Roger Peluso, previous national-champion club coach in Florida

Hawaii

In 2023, Hawaii high schools —  Moanalua, ‘Iolani, and Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama — represented 3 of the leading 16 (Gold Bracket) at the 2023 Best of the West Tournament in San Diego. Hawaii Baptist won the 2023 Beach City Invitational in La Jolla, while back in Honolulu, Punahou School won its Clash of the Titans, beating Mira Costa and Bishop O’Dowd. And,regardless of regular-season losses to Hawaii Baptist Academy, ‘Iolani School, and Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama, rallied to win another HHSAA state champion by beating nationally ranked Moanalua and Kamehameha-Kapalama.
Top Programs
1 — Kamehameha (Kapalama Campus)
2 — Punahou School
3 — Iolani School
4 — Moanalua HS
5 — University Laboratory School
Players to view
S — Kanalu Akana (Punahou School)
OH — Trey Ambrozich (University Laboratory School)
OH — Koa Laboy (University Laboratory School)
OH — Evan Porter (Punahou School)
OPP — Afatia Thompson (Punahou School)
OPP — Kainoa Wade (Kamehameha Kapalama)
Noteworthy:  Hawaii is still regularly producing a lots of skill. Universities throughout the nation are still attempting to get in touch with this little however skilled island of volley ball gamers. In the last 2 Olympics, 3 of the 12 U.S.A. gamers were from Hawaii … Kainoa Wade is the child of Hawai’i coach Charlie Wade.
Quoteworthy:  “Hawaii continues to produce skilled and athletic student-athletes with great competitive spirit and high character. The kids are passionate and motivated to learn, and the coaches all across the state are guiding them at all levels to be all they can be. It has quality learning opportunities and fun experiences for the boys, and it has been thoroughly entertaining for families and fans.  I expect more to come in 2024.” — Jordan Inafuku, ‘Iolani School

Indiana

In 2023, Indiana kids volley ball went beyond 100 groups as it shifts to be an approved IHSAA sport, a pattern anticipated to grow in 2024. Roncalli High School, which won everything in 2022, did it once again in 2015. The Royals finished 9 essential senior citizens however has a big group prepared to emerge. Roncalli will be challenged by Cathedral High School, Brebeuf Jesuit, Hamilton Southeastern, and the group that played in in 2015’s championship, Fishers.
Top Programs
1 — Cathedral
2 — Roncalli
3 –Fishers
4 –Brebeuf Jesuit
5 –Hamilton Southeastern

Players to Watch
S — Gavin Hagerty (Fishers)
OH — Ben Hutchinson (Brebeuf Jesuit)
L — Mikey Millikan (Brebeuf Jesuit)
MB — Ryan Peterson (Cathedral)
S — Nick Whitley (Cathedral)
Noteworthy: Beginning in 1995 Rhonda Low consulted with the IHSAA annual to offer updates on the development of kids volley ball to guarantee IHSAA understood the company was playing by the exact same guidelines as the women to be soaked up flawlessly. In 2023, the IHSAA board’s vote was consentaneous for kids’ volley ball to start emerging sport status in 2023.

Quoteworthy: “After the graduation of many talented players in the 2023 class there is an opening for many teams to claim a spot in the top five. With the exponential growth and eventual sanction of the sport the talent pool is as deep as ever, which will only continue to make every season more and more competitive. For me, the team that will come out on top this year is the one that is consistently training with the most intensity which pays off dividends when you get to regionals and state.”  Brebeuf Jesuit outside player Ben Hutchinson

Illinois

Glenbard West is searching for a three-peat however will need to hold back Lyons Township and Marist. The Illinois area is filled with college dedicates, consisting of a a great deal at the DI-II level.
Top Programs
1 — Glenbrook South
2 — Glenbard West
3 — Lyons Township
4 — Marist
5 — Barrington
Players to view
OH — Cole Hartke (Barrington)
OH — Luka Kostic (Lyons Township)
OH — Jack Mally (Geneva)
S — Christian Teresi (Marist)
S — Kyle Zediker (Saint Francis)
Noteworthy: Chicago continues to be a hotbed in the Midwest. For years professional athletes from the Windy City have actually gone on to play in NCAA DI-II and in the winter season of 2023 Chicago held a club AAU competition that included over 700 groups.
Quoteworthy: “Illinois is definitely not a state to look past for high school boys volleyball, with super talented players and an extremely competitive playoff series. We are a dangerous region and the top teams could definitely compete with those of other regions.” — Whitney Young’s Marty O’Brien

Kentucky

Kentucky has actually made terrific development, with about 30 groups playing this year and the KHSAA will sponsor a state competition in 2025. Traditionally, the center of kids high school volley ball in the state has actually remained in Louisville, due in no little part to the presence of Louisville Fury Volleyball Club. Saint Xavier has actually declared 20 club state champions because the 1990s. Trinity has actually won almost every year that Saint Xavier has not. Saint Xavier won the fight in the 2023 state last.
Top programs
1 — Saint Xavier
2 — Trinity
3 — Lafayette
4 – DeSales
5 — Henry Clay
Players to view
S — Sammy Debilzan (Lafayette)
OH — Myles McGee (Trinity) 
MB — Cooper Thomas (Saint Xavier) 
OPP — Gabe Sterlitz (Dunbar) 
OH — Tyler Harrington (DeSales)
Noteworthy: The more recent programs from the Lexington location are proliferating, assisted in part by the Bluegrass Lightning Volleyball Club supplying a chance beyond the high school season.
Quoteworthy: “Since I began teaching 12 years back, my trainees have actually asked if they might begin a young boys volley ball group. I constantly chuckled and stated I would coach, however who would we play, unless you wish to drive to Louisville for every single video game. Six years back, I had my very first genuine demand when some Lafayette trainees asked to begin a group to be able to play Henry Clay and West Jessamine. Since then, the sport has actually blown up with 12 high schools in the Lexington location, 10 in Louisville and little pods in Frankfort, Eastern and northern Kentucky. 42 groups have actually verified their involvement for the 2024 season, with the hopes of acquiring a couple of more as we get closer to formally beginning our season March 18. There are some terrific gamers throughout the state. As it ends up being more recognized and we can get programs begun for more youthful age, the level of play and variety of schools taking part is going to continue to grow.  I’m really delighted to be able to see it grow from the ground up in the Lexington location and see where it enters the coming years.” — Lafayette coach Matthew Stegman

TUESDAY: Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah

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The post Great development: National kids high school volley ball sneak peek, part 1 appeared initially on Volleyballmag.com.