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Volleyball fever — catch it
t’s that time of year again. We just wrapped up a frenzied month fi lled with college football bowl games – if you’re counting, the total was 35 – and we’re now headed toward March Mad- ness, when many of us will offer our expert picks on which NCAA men’s basketball teams will reach the heavily celebrated Final Four.
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It occurred to me recently that volleyball is developing some madness of its own – in colleges across the country and also in high schools and junior clubs. Yet another successful 64-team NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament was played out in December, when UCLA won its fi rst women’s volleyball title in 20 years by defeating Illinois in a Dec. 17 championship match at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (Our coverage begins on page 38.) The fi nal was played in front of 13,747 fans, continuing an upward attendance trend. In the past six years, NCAA Division I women’s championship match crowds have averaged twice what they did from 2002 to 2005. A great example of the growing interest in the NCAA Division women’s tournament is how carefully fans, players and coaches are scrutinizing the seeding. There were plenty of debates this year about which teams should have been where. And whenever there is debate, it’s always a good sign that people care. Twice a year, I meet with offi cials from the NCAA, and they have expressed great interest in doing more to promote early-round matches at regional sites in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament. USA Volleyball will continue to do everything possible to help boost ticket sales and create more awareness of this increasingly popular event. Another area of the game that is showing explosive growth is college club volleyball, headed by the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF). In only its second year, the NCVF Col- legiate Club Championships drew 336 teams in 2011, a 70-team jump from the inaugural event in 2010. This year’s event, which will be played in Kansas City April 5-7 and run in partnership with USA Volleyball, promises to be even bigger. At the juniors’ level, we are seeing impressive growth in marquee championship tournaments
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nationwide. The USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships has gotten to be such a coveted destination that it has 10 qualifi cation events, including some with as many as 1,000 club teams participating. There are many other notable junior events for both boys and girls in different regions around the country that are well attended and getting bigger with each passing year. On the male side of the game, a number of small colleges have recently announced that they will be launching men’s volleyball programs, and 2012 will be the fi rst year that the NCAA will produce a stand-alone championship tournament for NCAA Division III men’s volleyball held April 27-29 at Springfi eld College. The new championship, approved by an overwhelming majority vote in January 2011, is the fi rst men’s NCAA championship added since 1985. The usual NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship, which is now for Division I and II schools only, will be held May 3 and 5 at the University of Southern California.
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The expansion of the game across so many platforms is exciting on many levels. For fans, it means there’s more volleyball to watch, and, of course, that works both ways; the more volleyball there is to watch, the more our fan base has the chance to grow. For young players, the growth at the juniors’ level and the groundswell of interest at the college level is further indication that volley- ball provides plenty of opportunities for those who are dedicated to the game. Finding a team that’s right for you has never been easier.
Doug Beal
PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
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