Boys volleyball in Nebraska on the rise!
Why can’t boys play volleyball too? What has been an extremely popular girls sport in the area, volleyball for boys is emerging in the Midwest and has been trickling down the ranks to Nebraska. According to maxpreps.com, the following states…
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Continue ReadingWhy can’t boys play volleyball too? What has been an extremely popular girls sport in the area, volleyball for boys is emerging in the Midwest and has been trickling down the ranks to Nebraska.
According to maxpreps.com, the following states offer boys volleyball as a varsity sport in their high school:
Lincoln-based High Flyers Volleyball Club Director Nancy MacLean and Coach Greg MacLean started their program for girls only in 2002. When his son Jack got to be of age to play in 2005, he added boys into the mix. Now the club focuses mostly on boys but will add in some girls teams occasionally. This year High Flyers offers two boys teams that play in the 16U and 18U divisions. They hope to add a 14U team in the future.
Jack MacLean continued his volleyball career at Division II McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois from 2014-2017.
Currently, approximately 90 NCAA schools offer Men’s Volleyball. Of those, the majority are DII. Within the NAIA and Great Plains Athletic Conference, Hastings College will be the first Nebraska college to add men’s volleyball beginning the 2020-2021 school year. This increases the number of schools in the GPAC to five.
River City Juniors Volleyball Club in Omaha recently added a starter program with boys teams with an 18U team playing in regional tournaments and possibly nationals.
Unlike girls club volleyball that plays January through June, boys club tournaments start in December and continue through March. The club teams normally take a break until nationals at the end of June and beginning of July, because many high school boys varsity volleyball seasons are in the spring.
High Flyers play tournaments mostly in Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois with USAVB Nationals in Reno this summer. The members of the High Flyers come from near and far such as Lincoln, Omaha, Hebron, Albion, Roca, and some from out of state South Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas. Practices are normally Sunday afternoons at Lincoln area gyms. With a strong alumni player base concentrated in Lincoln, many past players attend practices to keep scrimmages very competitive.
Coach Greg MacLean notes some differences between boys and girls. Girls tend to play a more vertical game and concentrate on technique and precision. Where boys are more horizontal with the game much faster, less prescriptive, and explosive. In a girls’ game, minimal serves are missed and in a boys game, most serves are high risk-high reward with more aces but more errors.
University of Nebraska Lincoln students have the opportunity to play at the club level only. When Nebraska Women’s Volleyball Coach John Cook was recently asked in the 12/10/2019 Husker Sports Nightly Recap interview about Nebraska adding men’s volleyball, he spoke in favor of the sport.
With the expanded opportunities at the club level and especially in colleges, boys and men’s volleyball could be on the rise!
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON BOYS TEAMS IN NEBRASKA:
High Flyers VBC
Greg and Nancy MacLean: 402-540-2041
highflyersvbc@gmail.com
https://highflyersvb.weebly.com/
River City Juniors VBC
Deb Grafentin
dgraf@cox.net
https://rivercityjuniorsvolleyball.com/teams/boys-volleyball/
The Volleyball Academy, Omaha
https://rivercityjuniorsvolleyball.com/teams/boys-volleyball/
August 28-October 16 – High School and Middle School