Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live across the country in an area that is having the same girls' volleyball boom as seemingly everywhere else. I've followed the recent volleyball threads with a lot of interest because I have friends with girls older than mine who have been on the volleyball tryout roller coaster with very mixed results.

I grew up in a midwestern state where volleyball was big, but it was MS/HS teams only and only 1-2 girls per school made it to a club team and they were D1 recruits from day 1. I loved volleyball, but it had zero cachet and aside from kids I knew from CA, no one was scheming to make the team starting in 4th grade.

I've heard for years that the majority of teen girls stop playing organized sports by age 13. So where are all these teenage girls who are aspiring to play club volleyball coming from? Are they coming from other sports, and if so, what sports are losing such vast quantities of athletes that they're fueling the volleyball boom? For example, are these girls who would have been cut from small roster sports like basketball 30 years ago and are finding longevity in volleyball instead? Or are they girls who would have stepped away from sports altogether after elementary school but are finding their fit in volleyball?

While not necessarily a complete picture, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has as annual survey that might shed some light on some trends. You can look at archived surveys at https://www.nfhs.org/sports-resource-content/high-school-participation-survey-archive/.

Cherry picking some "girls" sports from the 2009-10, 2016-17, and 2023-24 surveys, there do seem to be some changes in participation rates that might suggest that athletes are switching from other sports to volleyball.

Girls participation rates for 2009-10:
Basketball: 439,550
Soccer: 356,116
Softball: 378,211
Volleyball: 403,985

Girls participation rates for 2016-17:
Basketball: 430,368
Soccer: 388,339
Softball: 367,405
Volleyball: 444,779

Girls participation figures for 2023-24:
Basketball: 367,284
Soccer: 383,895
Softball: 345,451
Volleyball: 479,125

It does appear that participation in volleyball is trending upwards, while participation in basketball, soccer, and softball are trending downwards (although participation rates for soccer are a little more level). Obviously you can't tell just from these figures whether the decrease in girls participating in these other sports have switched to volleyball. This timeframe also encompasses the COVID pandemic which complicates things further.

Given the change in numbers for basketball seems especially drastic, perhaps you could speculate that the most other athletes are switching from basketball to volleyball. And maybe given the fact that height is a key indicator of potential in both sports, this makes sense.

As other have noted, there also seems to be some regional trends happening too. While volleyball has always been really popular in southern California, Florida, Texas, and pockets of the midwest, it seems to be on the rise in the mid Atlantic, New England, and other parts of the country where it hasn't been as popular.

Seems like there might be a good topic for a thesis project in trying to figure out these trends.

Anonymous wrote:Youth sports industrial complex. A lot of money to be made in volleyball because it takes up very little space. VC firms pushed volleyball for the bigger margins and here we are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time for a volleyball channel on this site?

Yes.

Anonymous wrote:Time for a volleyball channel on this site?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP with younger kids here. A few posters cited the pandemic as a reason for increased participation in volleyball - why would that be? Wouldn’t indoor volleyball have been shut down as much as any other indoor sport, and more so than outdoor sports.

It was our experience that the type of families and teams that allowed volleyball in 2021 when we first did club were more flexible with masks off, being indoors, getting back to normal and pushing for things to be open. I am in NOVA.
Sure you had outdoor like soccer and lacrosse but volleyball seemed to go back inside, in the gym, right away, not waiting for schools to be back open.

and some of these volleyball teams never stopped practicing if they had access to space. I remember talking to parents from a Warrenton team (they were so good) who said they never stopped practicing during quarantine.

Not adding politics here so please don’t reply to derail the thread. This was just our experience. Other indoor options (basketball, futsal, ice hockey) seemed to be later.

Anonymous wrote:NP with younger kids here. A few posters cited the pandemic as a reason for increased participation in volleyball - why would that be? Wouldn’t indoor volleyball have been shut down as much as any other indoor sport, and more so than outdoor sports.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out softball league has a vague sense that we are losing athletes to volleyball.

No offense, but softball sucks, no wonder girls are looking for a different sport.

My kids would sharply disagree (as would many more I know), but your family is welcome to do you. Meanwhile I'll keep working to make our league a good experience for everyone who plays there as long as they do, even if they eventually end up going to volleyball

I like you - you are such a good sport. I wrote that as a joke and I am happy you took it that way. Good luck with the softball league!

Anonymous wrote:NP with younger kids here. A few posters cited the pandemic as a reason for increased participation in volleyball - why would that be? Wouldn’t indoor volleyball have been shut down as much as any other indoor sport, and more so than outdoor sports.

Anonymous wrote:NP with younger kids here. A few posters cited the pandemic as a reason for increased participation in volleyball - why would that be? Wouldn’t indoor volleyball have been shut down as much as any other indoor sport, and more so than outdoor sports.