Boys high school volleyball players, coaches, and teams learned Thursday that their first official season as a sanctioned sport in the Minnesota State High School League will be played in the spring following a recommendation by a task force organized by the MSHSL.
Boys volleyball will officially become a sanctioned sport in the 2024-2025 season after the league’s 48-member Representative Assembly approved the proposal in May with 39 total votes in favor - surpassing the needed 32 votes, or two-thirds majority.
After the vote, the MSHSL announced that a task force made up of coaches, activities directors, officials, and others from member schools would determine when the boys volleyball season would take place.
That task force presented its findings during Thursday mornings MSHSL Board of Directors meeting.
A tweet from the meeting read, "The Task Force recommends that Boys Volleyball be placed in the spring. The Board acknowledges the good work done by the Task Force on a hard decision and spends time discussing the recommendation. The Board approves having Boys Volleyball as a spring sport."
MSHSL Executive Director Erich Martens joined WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News on Thursday morning and previewed the decision.
"The leaning right now is towards spring," Martens said. "It's been an effective sport in the spring and boys volleyball has done a great job. We've seen growth in that particular season. Ultimately, that's the primary focus of the task force was to see where it's going to be most sustainable and have the greatest opportunity for growth with our student-athletes participating in boys volleyball within the state high school league."
The upcoming spring volleyball season will still be under the Minnesota Boys High School Volleyball Association. Last season there were reportedly teams from 72 Minnesota high schools, including nearly 2,000 athletes, participating.
Boys volleyball joins a plethora of spring sports sanctioned by the MSHSL, some of which have a difficult time completing full seasons due to unpredictable spring weather.
Martens said there's consistent dialogue about the spring season and what can be done to create better opportunities for students.
"Some of those considerations might be in moving a sport, but at this point, those are speculation only. There isn't a plan or anything to move a sport from spring to fall. It is something that could be considered. We really listen to our schools. Some of our northern schools have indicated they don't get on the field, golf course, or track until late April or early May. That makes for a short competitive season."