By Akshita Joshi, Social Media Editor
Sophomores Justin Chow and James Cooper spike the ball in starting the first boys’ volleyball club in Conestoga history. Juggling approval paperwork and searching for areas to practice, the club has kicked off its practices and is busy recruiting others interested in participating in the club.
Chow and Cooper have been volleyball fanatics since middle school, both watching and participating in recreational volleyball matches. However, they wanted to take their experience and passion one step forward.
“I’ve always been interested in playing volleyball and I was really surprised as a freshman that there was no boys’ volleyball team since it is such a popular sport so I started looking into how to make a boys’ volleyball team and found later that the process is actually quite grueling,” Chow said.
The process of creating a school sports team is lengthy and requires each team to start as a club, then a club sport and then finally into a team. In order to reach the club/team sport level, the club must demonstrate proof of members and overall interest.
“This club is open to everyone right now, and we aren’t looking at skill level,” Cooper said. “We just want to get enough people and start playing, so that anyone interested can give it a shot and hopefully in two years we can start an actual team,” Cooper said.
Chow, having been manager of the varsity volleyball team, has experience with volleyball practices with mentorship from coach Diana Felker.
“I’m happy that we were finally able to start the club. We have been trying for years, just did not have anyone that was willing to get it started.” Felker said.“The guys that show up on a regular basis are very passionate about learning the game and improving their skills.”
Despite the club having minimal members currently due to its recent creation, Chow and James hope to expand it throughout the rest of this year and aid current members in improving their volleyball skill in an inclusive environment. Alex Barton has been a member since the club’s creation in March and plans on continuing throughout his highschool years.
“I love this club because it really gives anyone the opportunity to play volleyball without needing to try out. I just want to achieve a great team that is viewed and respected by the school and my peers,” Barton said.
Along with hopes of ultimately establishing this club as an official school team, the club aims to remove negative connotations towards boys volleyball.
“People at this school specifically think only girls play volleyball and think of it as a ‘gay’ sport but really it’s not. Anyone can pick up a volleyball and have fun so I hope this club can help some in doing that,” Chow said.
It will be at least another two years before the club will officially be named as a team sport. However, the boys are determined to earn that title. With some additional months of training and members, the club will be able to begin playing games against teams in neighboring districts.
Akshita Joshi can be reached at [email protected]
