Volleyball in Florida

[Pendervb7]

Just wana hear what people have to say about boys volleyball in florida

[the future]

It has a ways to go to catch up to Cali, New York, Illinois and Wisconsin BUT the fact that I see so many HS picking up the sport and the interest growing is really an encouraging sight.

But again the sport will only grow just so far as the the future beyond HS is very limited. We need more option and more university's to grant their teams club status. I am hoping to see Big Ten Schools move this direction.

All we need is one nice lawsuit and we are on our way....I know this sounds cheesy but it seems this is the only way things get done nowadays.

There have be a few nice athletes come out of Orlando and Club Florida but I need to see more to be convinced.

Trust me I think there is a future in Florida but you need to have a College get a program nearby also.

[VB Dog]

Florida has had some nice 17 and 18s club teams the last couple of years at the JOs. 2 years ago Orlando Gold took the silver in the 17s Open Division. Robert Tar of Long Beach St. came out of there and is a terrific player. He was on the Junior National Team too.

Hi mom, by the way. How's the rockets doi'n?

[vballmom]

Hi VB Dog. He is doing great ;D. It was so nice to see him at Thanksgiving!!

It is so hard to get volleyball going here since high schools don't offer it. Guys see it as a girls sport and they are already playing basketball, football, baseball, and soccer which they can play year round here. The weather is so nice that our baseball season starts in January. If it could get into more high schools, that would be a huge help. Also, they need to see college teams play and have a college team to go to closer to home.

The FHSAA sanctioned boy's volleyball and girls flag football as official sports this year, but our county still would not add them due to budget constraints. As far as I know, Orlando and Miami are still the only two areas in the state that have boy's volleyball in their schools. It is a shame. I love this sport and still love to play - it is a lifetime sport.

We all need to keep pushing for it and one day it will happen.

[VBDOG]

VB Mom....the same situation was going on here in So Cal in regards to roller hockey. Whenever there were enough boys to justify a team, they ran into roadblocks with the schools and school districts because of the administrative issues of coaches on staff/paid, sufficient practice time and facilities, and that all important..."gender equity." So rather than not have a team, a lot of schools got around all of that by starting a "club," just like if your high school wanted to start any other sort of club. So it's more likely to start, and then grow into a real school team as the years progress. You might suggest that to some passionate folks there who want to start boy's vb in the area. If you can get 4 to 5 schools starting a club it might take off. The boy's who are cut from the basketball programs might be a good place to recruit players for the initial period until others can be exposed to it and choose it as a primary. I've seen that happen out here. Or, football players looking for a good spring sport also make good vb players.

Saw RT at the Girls CIF games a couple of weeks ago. Looked like he was having a good time. B-good.

[vballmom]

Thanks VB Dog. I'm going to keep trying. I haven't given up yet :-).

RT and company have too much fun on the weekends I think. He said that they were going to be a little less rowdy at the Wilson match this weekend.

They were up all night last night with the LBSU women's team - they were pretty upset about losing to UCLA. I can't believe the lost!

[PenderVB7]

well i play highschool vb for olympic heights and am looking to get a scholership but cant find a college around that has boys volleyball available besides club in college which hurts cause i believe i have the potential to play somewhere not penn state or cali. but somewhere id hate to have to stop just because its not available plus i cant find a dam club team anywhere to get noticed. had 22 kills in 1 game last yr 22-1 record

[V]

PenderVB7 said:

well i play highschool vb for olympic heights and am looking to get a scholership but cant find a college around that has boys volleyball available besides club in college which hurts cause i believe i have the potential to play somewhere not penn state or cali. but somewhere id hate to have to stop just because its not available plus i cant find a dam club team anywhere to get noticed. had 22 kills in 1 game last yr 22-1 record

Are you looking to play just for a D1 school? If not, what about New York area to attend school? I know quite a few Hawaii kids went to NYU to play. By the way, their Men's volleyball is a D3 team and I *think* are a part of the Molten Division III. I don't know much about the D2 teams, but, just thought I'd try and help you out in finding a school just in case it didn't matter what division school they were.

[vballmom]

There are quite a few DIII programs across the country and many club teams as well. Where do you live? Where do you want to go to school?

Check out this website to find out which colleges have DI, DII, and DIII programs and contact information. To be sure that the information is current, go to the schools website after you decide which schools you are interested in.
www.volleyball.org/college/index.html#MENS

Springfield is a great DIII program and so it NYU and Concordia. They are all in the NE. Most major universities in FL have club teams - UofM, UCF, UoFL, UofNFL, Eckerd College, and FSU. FSU has the shakiest program, the rest are pretty well established and getting better all of the time.