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The Grand Rapids South Christian High School boys volleyball team sets up a play in the 2024 state tournament. South Christian ended its season as the Division 2 runner-up.
METRO DETROIT — The Michigan High School Athletic Association is on track to reach its target of adding boys volleyball by the spring of 2026.
Last year, the MHSAA announced that it would be adding boys volleyball to its official sports listing at some point in the future, with a target date of 2026. One year removed from the MHSAA meeting where the council voted on the matter, the sport continues to grow and the association is on pace to have everything ready by next spring.
“I think there was a feeling at that meeting that it had to happen now. There was no putting it off,” MHSAA Director of Communications Geoff Kimmerly said about the sport’s addition. “The growth was too significant. … I think boys volleyball will slide very easily into our lineup.”
In terms of growth, the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association started the boys branch in 2018 with just four teams. Last year, according to Kimmerly, the league had 1,160 athletes participate.
“And I’m assuming that’s probably grown again this year, to be honest, just because of the trajectory of that sport,” Kimmerly said. “I think it will probably continue to grow going forward.”
Aside from the growth in numbers, there will also be growth in competitiveness. The addition of boys volleyball in the MHSAA allows for more opportunities for students and more serious and structured competition.
“Early on in this we have some athletes who are doing boys volleyball as a second sport. … I think that will be something that will become a primary sport in the spring,” Kimmerly said. “Those will be more of one-sport spring athletes.”
The focus has always been on doing what's best for the kids. Even with just four teams at the boys league’s inception, the MIVCA trio of Jason Heerema, Aaron Smaka and Brad Poel have always just wanted to provide opportunities.
“We do this for the kids. We’re here to serve the kids,” Heerema said. “There are boys across the state that are having experiences and creating friendships … that will benefit them for the rest of their life.”
A league that didn’t even exist in 2017 now has around 70 teams statewide and has added double-digit teams every year since 2021.
Girls volleyball has been a huge sport for decades now and the MHSAA structure with the girls will be an inspiration for the future of boys volleyball. The goal all along was to get the boys that same type of league.
“When we started it, I always wanted it to be a MHSAA sport,” Heerema said. “So, that’s how we structured it. That’s how we grew it and developed the rules. We always had the goal of being a MHSAA sport.”
The group of people who brought the sport to a point where it can be a recognized sport in the state and can make this handoff happen should not go unnoticed. Coaches, parents, officials and more all over the state have dedicated countless hours to getting the boys volleyball program to this point.
“Virtually everybody in this process is a volunteer,” Heerema said. “It’s been strictly a volunteer process from start to finish. … (The students) wouldn’t have this opportunity unless all of these people stepped into this process and volunteered their time and their heart.”
This was an easy decision for everyone involved. The sport has grown so much that the infrastructure put in place when the league was just a handful of teams might not have been able to handle the continued growth as is.
“To say that it’s busy doing this … would be an understatement,” Heerema said. “I will be grateful when the MHSAA takes it over, because I know it will be run very, very well.”
The MHSAA taking the reins of the sport will end a nearly decade-long journey for Heerema, Smaka and Poel. They started something that has flourished and now get to hand it off to someone else to make it grow even more.
“I think when I get to pause and reflect it will be humbling to be a part of something that's a pretty wonderful historical event, starting a sport and bringing it to fruition with a couple of wonderful friends (Aaron Smaka and Brad Poel),” Heerema said.
For more information on the boys volleyball league, visit mivca.net or mhsaa.com.
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