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How does the fact that there is currently no junior high boys’ volleyball program affect your high school program?
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How does the fact that there is currently no junior high boys’ volleyball program affect your high school program?
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Rick Lapi
WILSON - Head Boy's Volleyball Coach
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“Not having a junior high boys’ volleyball program does not help us to set-up to the next level. We typically get players when they are sophomores in high school and although they do very well to compete, we have trouble taking the final step to an elite team. In addition, many athletes are absorbed by other sports in junior high and although they could be exceptional volleyball players, they end up sticking it out in the other sports they played.”
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Andy Hoffert
WYOMISSING - Boy's Volleyball
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“Not having a junior high volleyball program has an impact on our players’ skill development, recruiting athletes, and in our situation, on the overall perception of the sport in our building. We have players coming in as freshmen who have never stepped on the court, aside from the annual gym class volleyball unit. We are teaching basic skills, and then expecting them to compete on the JV team with other schools who have played at the club level or who have junior high programs. …having a junior high team would allow us to compete with other sports for athletes. Junior high boys can pretty much pick from track and baseball in the spring, and if they get involved at a young age, it’s hard to get them interested in volleyball in 9th grade. We are also fighting the perception that volleyball is only a girl’s sport – we have a junior high girls’ program, so the students associate volleyball with girls, and some don’t even realize that we have a boys varsity program.
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Jessie Franko
BRANDYWINE HEIGHTS - Boy's Volleyball
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I think not having a junior high program has a significant impact on the high school program. Without a junior high program, I find myself running USAV (junior Olympic) teams all winter long from ages 10-18 in order to train athletes to prepare them for high school. High school volleyball happens to compete in the same season as baseball. Since kids are taught to play baseball from age 5 upwards, it is hard to get athletes to take up a sport at 14-15 they’ve never been exposed to before. Coaches and referees in Berks County are opening up volleyball to junior high kids this year for the first time as a club sport, in hopes that this year or next it will become a PIAA sport for junior high boys.
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Shawn Katz
KUTZTOWN - Boy's Volleyball
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This is my first year as head coach for Kutztown and I only have one sophomore on my team and not a single freshman. A feeder program is what every competitive varsity sport program needs. Next year may possibly be the last year for volleyball at Kutztown unless kids show a great interest before next season. This problem can continue at any high school throughout Berks County until a junior high program is established.
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