Alex Vassar of Center Grove, far left, spikes the ball during a March 21 match at Franklin.
Daily Journal photos | Chris Williams
As someone responsible for more than his share of well-guided spikes, Zach Newton finds himself at something of a crossroads.
Newton, an outside hitter for the Franklin boys volleyball team, would seem to be in a good place historically now that Indiana is seemingly inching closer to finally categorizing it as a sanctioned sport.
However, the soonest this could become reality is late in the 2024-25 school year – or the season after Newton graduates.
“To me, it’s exciting even if I’m not around for it,” said Newton, a left-handed 6-foot-4 junior outside hitter. “Just knowing maybe I’ve played a small part in it. It’s just good to see the sport grow.
“The more people see boys volleyball in person, it’s not what they think. It kind of grows on you.”
Boys volleyball is one of two sports presently categorized as an emerging sport in Indiana by the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), the other being girls wrestling.
This is the first school year of a two-year process emerging sports must go through prior to becoming sanctioned, though more variables are involved.
Under bylaws established by the IHSAA, its board of directors may designate a sport as a recognized sport if the following requirements are satisfied:
• One-hundred fifty or more member schools representing a minimum of 40 schools from each district have each sponsored a full program in that sport, and have participated in that sport two consecutive years (there remains the very real possibility the rule could be lowered to 100 schools).
• The sport has gone through the emerging sport process, and an updated emerging sport application is submitted to the board with the request for recognition.
• Provided the prior requirements are satisfied, the board at its annual meeting may, by a majority vote, recognize the sport as a recognized sport.
Currently, there are 87 Indiana high schools that have boys volleyball programs, including three in Johnson County with Center Grove, Franklin and Whiteland.
There are 118 high schools that had at least one girl wrestling this past season.
Seventh-year Franklin coach Sarah Records, a board member for the Indiana Boys Volleyball Coaches Association (IBVCA), said it’s difficult figuring out a possible timetable for when the sport might become sanctioned.
“Obviously, we’re hoping we’re really close to that mark,” Records said. “Our goal was to get 100 teams up and running this season, so we would like to have the growth in another year to have the IHSAA sanction us.
“Sanctioning boys volleyball in Indiana would be huge. It would give credibility to what our boys are doing, and what incredible athletes we have in Indiana.”
Boys volleyball in Indiana has gone through phases in which it seemed sanctioning was both decades away and right around the corner.
“We hit sort of our peak the year of COVID (2020). We were slated to have something like 63 to 65 teams,” Records said. “We got about 10 (preseason) practices, and then the world stopped.
“We had 40-ish teams going into the 2021 season.”
And yet the sport’s post-pandemic resilience has been impressive.
Records credits the growing number of boys playing club volleyball in Indiana, as well as the IHSAA for creating the emerging sports category. The latter, she feels, has further motivated high school administrators, coaches, players and fans throughout the state.
Locally, Center Grove and Franklin have been putting teams on the court for many years.
The Trojans won the state championship in 2006 and 2009 and were runner-up the seasons in-between; the Grizzly Cubs have been to the state finals nine times, most recently in 2017.
A state champion has been crowned every season since 1994, the lone exception being 2020 due to the pandemic.
In time, the finals facility will be larger. The same holds true for the number of fans and overall level of interest.
“For a long time, (IHSAA) wanted it to happen, but wanted to pick up another girls sport, as well,” Center Grove coach Andrea Pawlik said. “It’s another opportunity for kids to play a sport, and I think it’s really picked up steam lately.
“I truly think it’s club volleyball. A lot of boys have had exposure to that. I’m an assistant coach for the 14s at the Academy Volleyball Club in Indianapolis, and we’ve seen huge jumps in our numbers. We add teams every year.”
The Whiteland program is in its second season overall, and first under coach Madison Scott, a starting setter on the school’s girls teams prior to graduating in 2014.
Thus, boys volleyball at WHS has yet to gain the level of traction as Center Grove and Franklin.
Nonetheless, Scott is excited for what the future holds.
“I think it’s a good thing. There are programs that have been around longer than us, but it pushes the boys,” Scott said. “Seeing the sport grow for the love of volleyball is awesome.”
