By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph's Civic Arena will host some high-level sporting events over the next several years. You can now add state volleyball to the list.
The Missouri State High School Activities Association selected Civic Arena to host its volleyball championships beginning in 2025 with the agreement running through 2027.
Director of the St. Joseph Sports Commission Brett Esely says volleyball was an appealing choice, mainly because many teams in northwest Missouri are having postseason success.
"Volleyball caught our eye," Esely said. "Not only because we feel Civic Arena could be a great venue for volleyball, but because we have a lot of area teams competing very well and we'd love for them to compete a little closer to home than they are right now."
The state volleyball championships are currently played in Cape Girardeau and will be through 2024. St. Joseph hasn't hosted a MSHSAA championship event since state softball at Heritage Park in 2008.
Civic Arena is also hosting the MIAA volleyball tournament this November, the St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Fame Holiday Hoops Classic with area high schools in December and the NCAA Division II women's basketball Elite Eight in 2023 and 24.
State volleyball coming to St. Joseph in 2025 coincides well timing-wise with the new Red Lion Hotel, which is projected to be completed in downtown St. Joseph by December 2024.
"No question having a brand new hotel property right across from the arena, folks are going to love that," Esely pointed out. "Being able to park the car and literally never having to start it up again until they leave town. So, we're really excited about that."
Civic will also host two U.S. Olympics Weightlifting trials, the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, the Hillyard Tip-Off Classic and other regional events in the coming months. Esely says more events are on the way as well.
"We're very excited about what's coming in the near future," he said. "We're excited about what's coming long-term, but we have some other major announcements hopefully just around the corner that I think will only enhance our existing schedule right now."
It's been a busy and impressive 10 or so months for Esely as the director of the St. Joseph Sports Commission - a role that he took on full-time at the start of the year.
Esely says it's an encouraging start, but he encourages the public to do their part - show up to the events.
"These are high-level events and we want to be able to create that great atmosphere," Esely said, "in some cases provide a championship experience, or provide an experience that these student-athletes wouldn't experience much otherwise. So, get out and support these events so we have the opportunity to bring future events of this nature to our community."
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