It’s that time of year again. Not with the holiday music or fuzzy sweaters. Forget about the warm food and Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Nope, my fellow Pioneers, it is gym volleyball season.

Gym volleyball is the reason some students skip their sports study. Gym volleyball is what brings students together, no matter the grade. Gym volleyball, my friends, is what encourages students to try new sports.

So if it’s so popular, why don’t we have a boys volleyball team?

“Interest is usually the biggest piece,” Mr. Carangelo says. “We also have to weigh a lot of different factors. Budgetary concerns are a big piece when you’re talking about adding a potential sport.”

He’s right, interest is truly important. You first need someone who knows the sport well enough and is willing to coach. Once the coach is secured, next is the players. If many students are willing to play, then starting and having a team will be the easiest part of the project. You’ll have enough players on the court and enough to have as subs. If you have too many, then you’ll have enough to make a JV team. However, plenty of students participate in other spring sports, such as lacrosse, baseball, track and field, and golf.

Mr. Carangelo acknowledges that NPHS is “a small school. And so the more we offer, the more we’re potentially…taking people away from [another] program and spreading everyone so thin that we’re unable to really compete [in other sports].” 

Some students may debate that interest can be built with the program. That fact is very true, but there must be enough interest at the very beginning as well. 

In order to calculate which students may be interested in volleyball, every two years Mr. Carangelo sends out a non-binding survey to the middle schoolers, both 7th and 8th grade, to see what sports they are thinking about completing in in high school and if there are any sports that they would like to see added to the roster. 

“There was some interest in boys volleyball, there was some interest in fencing, but actually the sport that had the most interest that we don’t offer was bowling,” Mr. Carangelo said. “And then we’re also doing a similar survey actually, Mrs. K is working on it right now, for the entire high school. So we can kind of see…not just what’s coming in the terms of the middle school, but who’s here, and how are we servicing them and that’s not just for sports as for clubs and activities.”

Now if there is enough interest, the next category to focus on would be budgeting. Whether that’s for uniform and equipment funding, time for practices and games, or travel on buses, being mindful of what to spend and how to spend it could take a while.

If you’re wondering, “Can’t we just use the high school gym equipment like the girl’s team?”, then you’re not alone. Much of the equipment is already purchased and can be used thanks to the fall girl’s volleyball season. But what if the track needs the gym for training when it’s a rainy day? Or lacrosse? The middle school gym is already taken by baseball and softball athletes, so no training will be able to take place there. So while the equipment is there, training schedules will have to be mixed and fixed.

Uniform funding will take longer. While bake sales and fundraisers may be helpful, parents and students will have to chip in their own cash to ensure that the uniforms are appropriate and good quality. There are also certain restrictions and guidelines that must be followed and approved by the NJSIAA committee before the uniforms can be worn.

Furthermore, travel to other towns must be considered. The school will have to budget and extend more money towards bus fares as students travel to other schools for games and tournaments.  

With all these technicalities, how would adding a boys volleyball team positively affect the community?

Coach John Ross, the head varsity boys volleyball coach at Summit High School, stated that his athletes “are much more engaged with their academic studies.  The more students participate in their school community the more engaged they are.”

Ross first began to participate in Summit’s volleyball program when he was asked by several students who were petitioning the school board and the AD to begin a team to be their sponsor/coach. He had played two-person beach volleyball growing up at the Jersey shore and learned the 6 person game when he went to school at USC in Southern California. 

The boys team practices 5-6 times a week and many participate in off-season conditioning to strengthen their skills. However, despite their skill levels, Ross says that “most players’ only experience with volleyball is through PE.  As the program has grown, more and more players are participating on club teams.”

The pride he has in his team is apparent when he states “[the team has] a special bond and the parents are fully engaged with the program because it has been fully or partially self-funded for all these years.”

Between the players, parents, and hardworking staff, the games and positive atmosphere has made the varsity team powerful. In the 2020-2021 UCC standings, Summit ranked fourth with an 11-12 record.

 Other coaches, including Edward Saggio, the head varsity boys volleyball coach at Westfield High School, have also received positive feedback from having a boys team.

Saggio began his volleyball journey in 1984 when he became the assistant boys basketball coach at Millburn. When they had an opening for girls JV Coach, the head coach at the time suggested Saggio take it as it would look good on his resume. He had not coached volleyball before.

Saggio stated that the volleyball program is only 5 years old and needed seasoned players. Saggio suggested starting a middle school volleyball clinic for future players, but it was unfortunately shut down early due to COVID. 

Saggio said how “this [middle school experience] will be critical to the success of the program as [most students] come in with no experience.”

And while the program may still be too new to make any drastic changes in the community, there is still hope that the team will make positive influences on their peers.

For NPHS  a few big questions remain: Will we be able to have boys volleyball? When would the program begin? Is there a way to build a team?  

Firstly, in order to have a boys volleyball team, due to federal regulations, we would need another girls sports team. Many students in the past have suggested field hockey, gymnastics, or ribbon twirling.  However, that would require the budget for sports equipment and time management to stretch even thinner.

Hypothetically, if a former boys team turned co-ed, that would open up new possibilities for another male sports team. For instance, football could be considered co-ed if a female were interested in playing. 

Mr. Carangelo says, “Football, from a traditional standpoint, is a boy sport, but its store is open to anyone who would like to participate in it.”

Secondly, the program would take a few years to build up. Money doesn’t grow overnight and neither do teams. Interest in the sport and support for any uniform and bus fares must be gathered and carefully saved for when the team is ready to begin.

Thirdly, a way to build the team would be to host or attend rec practices.  

According to Mr. Carangelo  “anything the rec wants to do if we have the ability to service, especially high school aged students who are interested in participating in something, from a facility standpoint, we’re always gonna try to do that. And it’s a good test, right, like that’s a good interest test. Like if that’s got 30 boys that are participating every single night, Tuesdays and Thursdays and they’re so into it, then that’s also another way of like seeing “Oh, there’s a real interest here.””

Practicing and playing at the rec center seems to be an incredible idea, according to seniors Brandon Mora, Daniel McKnight, Chris Kowantz, and Zach DeGeorge. With flexible hours, they will be able to continue their experience on their spring sport teams and then go to play volleyball for fun afterwards. This way, they don’t have to miss or skip anything to do what they desire.

All in all, boys volleyball can be a potential sport in the near future. With high levels of interest, funding from generous committees and supporters, and open minds, the sport of volleyball will be able to be enjoyed for all ages and genders.

But let’s not kid ourselves. Gym volleyball will always remain supreme.