Volleyball popularity at all-time high for girls amid US Olympic success and college game's exposure

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — As summer turns to fall, a repurposed industrial building on the southwest side of Omaha becomes a hive of activity.

More than 200 girls ages 11 to 14 in T-shirts, shorts and kneepads rotate among eight practice courts at the Premier Nebraska Volleyball facility. They worked on skills like passing, setting and hitting. Coaches — on a recent evening all but one were women and most were former college players — gave instruction and encouragement in equal parts.

Similar scenes are playing out across the country as youngsters begin preparing for fall tryouts and a competitive season that runs from January to April for most teams.

Remi Christiansen, one of the girls training at Premier Nebraska, took up the sport three years ago and immediately showed promise as a setter. She has played on the club’s top 13U and 14U teams and will try out in the 15U division with the goal of playing for her high school next year and later in college.

“I like how high intensity it is,” Remi said. “You really have to be ready for anything — whether it’s reactionary or being able to communicate on the court.”

Girls volleyball has never been so popular in the United States. Participation has increased every year since at least 1980 (excluding the 2020-21 pandemic year), and growth has accelerated the past decade. The number of girls high school volleyball players hit an all-time high of 470,488 in 2022-23, a figure second only to outdoor track and field (486,355), according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Girls high school basketball, the most comparable sport in roster size, has trailed volleyball in participation since 2014-15. More girls play high school volleyball than basketball in all but nine states.

USA Volleyball reported a record 333,208 junior girls (ages 11-18) registered with clubs as of July, an increase of 40% since 2013-14. Most of those players also are on their school teams. Still more play in programs at the YMCA, which does not track participation.

Explaining the popularity

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Mila Anderson, who will play on one of Premier’s 12U teams, is training as a middle blocker and outside hitter. She also plays basketball, but volleyball is her favorite sport.

“It’s a lot more thrilling,” she said. “Especially with the long rallies, you have to be aware and keep up. After a tiring one, it’s really exciting when I get to put down that last ball and get the game point.”

A confluence of factors has fueled the sport’s rise.

Until about 20 years ago, there were more opportunities for girls to play basketball and soccer. The number of junior clubs registered with USA Volleyball has nearly doubled, rising from 1,750 in 2004-05 to 3,880 in 2023-24.

The increased participation has coincided with the United States’ emergence as a world power in the sport. Team USA has medaled in five straight Olympics, including gold in 2020 and silver this year in Paris. And the amount of exposure college volleyball receives on television and social media is unprecedented.

Players and coaches said the sport itself, with its energy and emphasis on teamwork, resonates with many girls, players and coaches said.

Four-time Olympian Jordan Larson said she preferred volleyball over basketball growing up because she could avoid contact with opposing players.

“I don’t want to take elbows. That doesn’t seem fun for me, personally,” she said. “But there is a way in volleyball you can still show that assertiveness, that leadership — but with a layer of elegance that comes along with it.”

Tatum Anderson, mother of Mila and one of the top high school players in Nebraska in the early 2000s before she starred as a libero at Missouri and trained with the national team, said the sense of connectedness appeals to girls.

“Everybody can bring a different skill and strength to the court but at the end of the day it takes the whole team,” she said. “Caitlin Clark is a perfect example. She can take over a (basketball) game by herself — assists, rebounds and points. In volleyball, not one person can take over a game. You can get a great outside hitter that can take over and give you offense, but you still need defense, you still need a great setter, you still need a lot of other components.”

Of course, any sport can help build confidence and self-esteem that can carry into adulthood. Those benefits are magnified in the high-energy volleyball culture where teammates thrive on celebrating each other’s accomplishments, Tatum Anderson said.

“That’s huge when you’re raising a daughter — women supporting women,” she said.

Increasing diversity

As with other sports, the time commitment and expense of club volleyball increases as players move up competitive levels.

At Premier, a player on one of its 11U through 18U teams will have a minimum of two two-hour practices per week, play in six local tournaments and as many as three out-of-town tournaments. Club director Shannon Smolinski said annual fees range from $2,000 to $3,000, not including travel and the expense of offseason training opportunities.

Asked to describe the club scene when she started in the sport, Olympian Haleigh Washington said, “White. Volleyball was very white.”

Washington, who is Black, said she sold candles, gift cards and candy bars to help pay her fees when she was growing up in Colorado Springs and playing for the Colorado Juniors in nearby Monument. She said she knew of no teammates who had to raise funds like she did. Washington also said her club provided generous financial assistance.

“I’ve always seen it as, yes, a very privileged sport because if you want to compete and play against the best of the best you need to have shoes, kneepads and usually ankle braces, a good net, a good gym that’s regulation size and access to lots of balls,” she said.

USA Volleyball does not break down the racial makeup of its registered junior players. Among its 400,000 players, coaches and staff at all levels, about 23% are people of color.

Premier’s Smolinski said it’s common for clubs to provide need-based financial aid so players who want to join are not turned away. USA Volleyball supports a program called “Starlings,” which brings volleyball to underserved communities in urban areas and on American Indian reservations, and it started a program called “Try Volleyball” that offers kids and their families a chance to to try the sport for free.

There are three professional leagues i n the U.S. now. League One Volleyball (LOVB), which owns 54 junior clubs with more than 14,000 players in addition to a pro league that begins its first season in January, has a foundation focused on increasing access to players of all socioeconomic status.

LOVB CEO and co-founder Katlyn Gao said a portion of revenue generated from sponsorships is directed to programs that will bring the sport to disadvantaged communities.

“I think club volleyball is an incredible community and it’s also true not everybody has access to it, whether it’s financial or geographic, whatever that might mean,” Gao said. “Access is at the center of the vision for what we are trying to achieve.”