Boys Volleyball is one of the fastest growing youth sports in America, amassing nearly 8000 new high school players from 2023 to 2024. Following this trend, Grandview Boys Volleyball has also grown substantially within the past four years. The program, starting with only two teams, shifted to having four and their most competitive tryouts to date. 

“It has definitely changed a lot. I’d say the participation has very much increased ever since I started. At first, there was only a varsity and JV team when I started. More and more people are trying out,” Senior Yuchan Kim said. 

The reason behind the large growth spike is because of the sport’s previously wide-spread stereotype that it was only for girls. 

“I think a lot of stereotypes about men’s volleyball affects how people think they’ll be perceived or what they think going into it. I’ve definitely met some people who are like, ‘Oh, I won’t play that sport because it’s for girls’,” Senior Evan Deikman said 

In recent years, this stigma has started to crumble as more and more boys take an interest in playing. 

“Don’t be discouraged. It’s a very fun sport. It’s once you get the hang of it and once you meet other people there, it’s amazing. That’s where I met most of my best friends, so don’t be afraid and try out,” Kim said. 

Many attribute the increased activity with increasing media coverage. College men’s volleyball has gained massive popularity in the past three years and this has trickled down to high school. However, it is still nowhere near the amount of coverage and popularity that women’s volleyball receives. 

“There’s two sides to that. I think how much people watch Women’s Volleyball at the college and high school level contributes to the NCAA Girls tournament [and the popularity surrounding it], which I think is fine. Boys’ coverage, it’s getting larger, but in certain states and places, it’s just not as big,” Deikman said. 

This is often reflected through the student turn up at boys’ volleyball games. 

“Our student section is practically empty compared to the girls. During the girls game it is pretty much full at every home game. But for us, we only had four home games and no one showed up,” Kim said.

Grandview’s boys volleyball team tries to incite interest through multiple methods, such as their Barstool-like Instagram. Their overall goal is to promote the sport for additional players as well as school support.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Example of barstool posts on the boys volleyball's Instagram.

“I’d hope that schoolwide, we get more boys to try out. And that we start getting some people, like the general student base- people who don’t know a thing about boys volleyball- to come to those games. To have tons of people coming to the girls games, chanting, having fun, having good school spirit and community spirit- I kind of want that for boys volleyball as well,” Deikman said.