R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Sometimes I think Volleyball is the Rodney Dangerfield of sports – that is, it doesn’t get any respect.  Asia, Europe, and South America all have thriving and immensely popular professional Volleyball leagues for both men and women; the USA, not so much. Why this lack of respect in the USA?  I don’t know why, but we’re going to talk about it tonight.  And, speaking of respect, you can’t help but think of the song “Respect” originally written by Otis Redding and then slightly modified and immortalized by the illustrious Aretha Franklin.

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB.”

Why aren’t there any professional Volleyball leagues in the USA?  There have been numerous attempts to start pro leagues here, but all have ignominiously withered away while basketball and football have grown into economies bigger than many countries. And, for the record, I love both basketball and football.  They are great sports to watch.  However, I do not understand why Volleyball toils in obscurity while other sports bask in the limelight.

Even at the college level, Volleyball does not get the respect it deserves.  On September 5, 2014, then top ranked Penn State played then second ranked Stanford at the Stanford campus.  This early season match up was a Volleyball fan’s dream.  Both the Stanford and Penn State crowds marketed the match enthusiastically, and attendance was 3,685 people, which is good for a college Volleyball contest.  But, just imagine what the attendance would have been if this event had been football instead of Volleyball? Easily 50,000 fans, and maybe even 100,000 if the stadium was big enough.

Men’s College Volleyball (MCVB) especially does not receive positive treatment in the sports world.  There are approximately 160 MCVB programs in the USA (22 NCAA DI, 25 NAIA, 25 NCAA DII, 74 NCAA DIII, and 15 Junior Colleges, all in California).  These numbers may be slightly off since MCVB programs are in a continuous state of flux and I’m not sure anyone other than the Almighty knows how many MCVB programs actually exist.  Compare this 160 MCVB programs to the number of college football programs (873) and basketball programs (1986), according to Scholarship Stats.com.

Let me emphasize that I do not want to see basketball or football shrink, because they are great sports. I just want to see Volleyball grow, because it is also a truly great sport. And candidly, growing Volleyball is our responsibility – the Volleyball community.  We have to support our own sport and players.

PLEASE, LET’S GROW THE GAME TOGETHER!