Thunderhawks boys volleyball is the new team in town

An activity is emerging quickly around the State of Minnesota and Grand Rapids High School is already a serve ahead.

The Grand Rapids Thunderhawks boys volleyball team is in action during the spring sports season along with new boys volleyball teams that have been popping up around the state after the boys high school volleyball league was sanctioned by the state and MSHSL in May of last year.

According to MPR News, “Minnesota has just become the 25th state to sanction boys volleyball as a high school sport. And teams from 72 Minnesota high schools — including nearly 2,000 athletes — are participating in this spring’s season.”

In 2018, the Minnesota Boys High School Volleyball Association was established to create opportunities for boys to play volleyball competitively in high school, and Grand Rapids High School is now a part of the growth of the sport taking place statewide.

Previously functioning as a “club” team, the Thunderhawks are competing in their first regular season that will include a state tournament at the end, although the first “fully-sanctioned” boys volleyball season is planned for Spring of 2025.

Meanwhile, the Thunderhawks are part way through their inaugural season with several home games approaching quickly.

They are currently 3-3-1 and tied for third in the four-team Northern Conference that consists of Bemidji, Proctor-Hermantown, and Cloquet.

The Thunderhawks are coached by Chris Otto and Bekah Sutherland, the same tandem that brought the girls to the state tournament last fall, when they won the consolation championship.

Sutherland says they have enough players to field a boys varsity and junior varsity team - a lot of them being multi-sport athletes.

Sutherland, a long-time player herself, is excited to see the buzz growing around the Thunderhawks newest team, even seeing parents from the girls team attend games without a son on the boys team.

““There’s already a good fan base, at the home games there’s quite a few people,” added Sutherland, who also said the game is “definitely growing.”

The Thunderhawks have been playing a game a week this spring and play about eight total before a section and state tournament. They are at Cloquet May 9, and at Bemidji May 15, before two weeks at home May 20, and May 29.

The week between games allows Otto and Sutherland to work with the players, who have passed the basics, and picking up the sport quickly.

“They are playing fast and developing skills,” she says, pointing toward the growing sport.

“When you go somewhere to play [with the girls], there’s 3-4 courts of boys playing sometimes depending on the gym - it’s definitely more prominent and people are playing.”

As the team transitions from a “club” team to the MSHSL, the boys have continued buying into the team, says Sutherland, describing the increasing competition.

“The games have gotten more competitive and players are getting better at the game, becoming more competitive and are bought-in,” she said. “It’s a super fun sport, it’s fast-paced and fun to watch. It’s another opportunity for the boys to play.”

Otto himself has been involved in the sport for more than two decades, playing coed and on men’s teams in the early 2000s, before he began coaching the girls’ game in New Ulm. Otto and his family moved to the area in 2013 and found a home with the Thunderhawks volleyball program shortly after. He credits his knowledge of the game and coaching from those experiences playing and interacting with the game in those early years.

Otto, along Guy Carlson and Shel Otto, began the first boys team in Grand Rapids when the MN Boys Volleyball Association started. A boys volleyball meeting led by Derek Hart took place in Floodwood and the infrastructure of boys volleyball in the Arrowhead Region began shaping into what it is today.

“The first year for the Northern MN conference was 2019,” said Otto. “We had a lot of boys playing in the spring of 2020 and then the season was canceled due to covid. We started again in 2022 and we earned a trip to the state tournament in the spring of 2023.”

The expansion of the boys game in the state is happening very quickly. Quick enough that student-athletes and their families could be missing out on an opportunity to play the sport for their school. Luckily in Grand Rapids, a volleyball culture already exists, and the program is off to a healthy start.

“We have a great group of boys again this season. They are very dedicated to growing their skills and working hard to get a little better everyday. We have five returners from last year's squad and 11 new players. The season is going as expected. We have a lot of new and young players on the team. We are very athletic and the growth so far is amazing to see. 1% better everyday is our goal.”

Otto continued:

“Boys volleyball is new to MN but is growing at a very fast rate. There are a lot of boys in the state who still don't know the sport exists. It will be fun to see the continued growth as it becomes an official MSHSL sport next spring. The Grand Rapids girls volleyball players have helped a lot to get boys interested and they do a great job supporting the program.”