9.5.24
Over the last 5 years Boys High School Volleyball has grown 34%, making it the fastest growing boys high school sport in the country!!!
By contrast, no other' boys sport with more than 50,000 participants has grown more than 20% per the National Federation of High School Sports (NFHS). NFHS released its annual participation survey this week showing how many athletes are participating in each sport, in each state by gender and here are some findings:
Year over year, Boys High School Volleyball grew 9.4% from 2023 to 2024 - from 77,892 to 85,255 participants, and was second only to Boys Wrestling in percentage growth.
In terms of total numbers boys high school students participating in volleyball, we are just out of the top 10 boys sports - NFHS lists Boys High School Swimming and Diving as it's #10 sport by participants with 116k boys competing in 47 states, by comparison NFHS lists 85k boys participating in Boys High School Volleyball in 28 states.
Some of our newly sanctioned states have been counted for the first time this year - Kentucky (449 participants), Michigan (1,160) and Utah (2,144) are all new participants on the NFHS participation scoreboard.
Other states where boys high school volleyball has recently been sanctioned or made emerging didn't get their numbers counted by NFHS this year, but will likely be counted next year - Minnesota, Oregon and South Carolina are in that group and conservatively represent at least 2k additional participants.
Kudos to the following states for solid growth year over year from '23 to '24:
Indiana - 72% growth, up to 2,221 participants
Pennsylvania - 29% growth
Wisconsin - 7% growth
Massachusetts - 6% growth
Updated 5/6/24
The USAV Academy is where coaches and athletes go for their referee and scorekeeping courses...
1. Log in to My SportsEngine with your USA Volleyball Membership linked account.
2. In the top middle of your home page, you'll see the USA Volleyball Academy name and Logo in a box. A blue "Launch" button appears at the far right of that box. Click on the "Launch" button, and you should be good to go!
3. Remember that "Enrollments" are required-for-credit courses that have been assigned to you
4. The "Content Library" offers articles, optional courses and all sorts of educational material!
Articles for boys VolleyballBelow you will find helpful articles for navigating boys volleyball
|
Schedule can be found here.
As our RMR regional competition season winds down, we move our focus to the summer Camp and Clinic season. Many of our local clubs promote skills camps of their own, or bring in collegiate or professional clinicians to bolster their offerings. We post camp/clinic fliers on behalf of our RMR clubs and partners HERE.
This year, the RMR has taken an extra step. We have invited the "Art of Coaching" team to bring their Coaches Clinic to Denver! We're one of only three regions in the country who will host this program this year, and RMR Clubs and Coaches receive big discounts!
Our AOC camp will run May 17 and 18th at Metro State.
For more information about the Clinic Program and the RMR Discount program, please see the Art Of Coaching DENVER 25 Landing Page
RMR Community;
A few weeks ago, we published an RMR Recruiting Policy that included the idea that “currently-affiliated athletes were completely off limits” until July Tryouts. We received significant feedback from many of our Directors regarding that concept, and so we reached out to USAV leadership directly. They made clear that USAV and most Regions are moving away from “restrictive regulations” of this nature, and towards a more open “free market” philosophy. The RMR will follow suit.
Please find attached (above) a single-page “white sheet” that describes our updated Recruiting Policy. Also, please be aware that the RMR reserves the right to update the Policy from time to time, as our Board of Directors finds necessary.
We're aware that the RMR, like USAV and "club volleyball" universally, has been changing rapidly. We all yearn for the stability of previous times. Still, implementation of new technology, new policies and new management standards will help us meet challenging new market realities.
Like most of you, we do hope to "settle in" on stable annual calendars, ranking systems, and of course a recruiting policy that serve everyone smoothly and well, and that can be left in place for several years into the future. "Fingers crossed" that this Recruiting Policy represents a step in that direction!
Finally, an apology. This year we are dreadfully late in publishing our recruiting plan and calendar. I'd like to thank our Girls Junior Committee for all of their hard work! Meanwhile, as Director, I do apologize to all of you in the RMR Community for the late delivery of this necessary information.
Enjoy the weekend, whether you'll be playing here in Denver with Power 4-Odd, or competing at the PNQ, Northern Lights, or Big South Qualifiers...
... and Good Luck!
Keith Murlless, Executive Director, RMR
Check out this article, written by a prominent journalist, just after the recent USAV / New England Region Boston Volleyball Festival : BOSTON GLOBE "As I See It"
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountains will be alive with the sound of volleyball in 2025 when Denver hosts the USA Volleyball Open National Championship on May 23-28 at the Colorado Convention Center.
The Open National Championship is the longest-running volleyball tournament in the United States and features women’s and men’s teams with players ages 18 to 80.
The field will include teams comprised of former USA Volleyball national team players and national team development program (NTDP) athletes.
“We are happy to be bringing the 2025 USA Volleyball Open National Championship to the Mile High City of Denver,” said USA Volleyball President and CEO Jamie Davis. “The Open Championship provides adult teams at every level a chance to compete against others from both foreign and domestic. This tournament epitomizes the essence of USAV and shows that volleyball is truly a sport for life. We thank the Denver Sports Commission for all its support.”
In addition, USA Volleyball will celebrate volleyball leaders and stars at its Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony ahead of the 2025 tournament.
The RMR Girls Spring Forum (for Club Directors) will be held Wednesday May 7th, 730-930pm, at the RMR Offices in Ken Caryl. Full zoom functionality will be provided to Directors who prefer to attend virtually.
Directors in the Denver area may attend in person. Please drop us a line to help us determine how many guests we should anticipate, as the office will only comfortably seat about 30 persons.
24-25 GIRLS SOS RANKINGSUpdates mid-morning each Monday |
In addition to winning RMR Regional Bids here in Denver at the ZBT, several of our RMR clubs have secured bids at USAV Girls National Qualifiers.
Congratulations go out to:
At SLC Showdown GJNC
NORCO 15 Black 15 USA
Colorado Juniors 16Shannon 16 USA
At Pacific Northwest GJNQ
Colorado Elite 16 Grizzly 16 Liberty
At Mideast GJNQ
Elevation 18 Peak 18 USA
Colorado Juniors 18Jayne 18 Liberty
At Red Rock Rave GJNQ
FrontRange 18 Black 18 USA
Mesa Juniors 18 Black 18 Amer
At Sunshine GJNQ
CS Altitude 16 Navy 16 Amer
At Florida Fest GJNQ
Colorado Juniors 18Kevin 18 Open
To see how the RMR is doing on the national stage and here at home, please see
Hint: Search "RMR" at the TM2 Homepage
U.S. Center for SafeSport
The U.S. Olympic Committee announced the members of the Board of Directors. I have included a link to the press release below. I hope to have more updates for you soon. Thank you for your continued support of the USA Volleyball SafeSport Program. |
MAKE A SAFESPORT REPORT
This page offes guidance regarding SafeSport issues and how to report. It also offers a "REPORT A CONCERN" link, as well as a REPORT phone number. |
Have questions about Safesport and the types of concerns that are addressed by the Safesport program? The HelpLine link above, or the phone number below, give you access to safeSport resources. These tools can guide you if you have a concern that may merit being reported.
Phone: 866-200-0796 (open 24 hours
Online: safesporthelpline.org
For questions about the Safesport program and its implementation in the Rocky Mountain Region, please contact Executive Director Keith Murlless. (safesportquestions@rmrvolleyball.org)
This "safesportquestions" email address is for program inquiries; it is not the emergency reporting line To make a report, contact local authorities and Safesport directly, at the contact points posted above.
Girls Friendship 2 Tournament on Jan. 5 schedule can be found here.
Girls Qualifier Series Seeding Tournament on Jan. 11-Jan. 12 coming soon!
Boys Power 4 HS on Jan. 11 coming soon!