By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Missouri State High School Activities Association announced last May that boys’ volleyball would become a sanctioned sport in the spring of 2024.
Seventy-two schools across Missouri are taking part in this first official season. The majority of them are in the Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas.
But, one of them is in St. Joseph. St. Joseph Central is fielding a boys’ volleyball team for the first time ever this spring - head coached by Dan McCamy.
A longtime track coach and P.E. teacher, McCamy says getting boys’ volleyball to the city and the state has been a long time coming.
"When we played volleyball in the spring of last year and in the fall this year, we really started looking at the process of recruiting players to be a part of the program," McCamy told KFEQ Radio.
"Evaluating some of those guys through P.E. and trying to encourage them to be a part of something."
Sixty boys tried out for Central’s team. Twenty-three of them are on the roster. McCamy says these 23 boys have brought great energy and enthusiasm each day.
"The energy around our program has been great," he said. "I think the boys have been excited. Every program right now is just excited to be a part of it. The Kansas City teams we play, there's just been good energy toward every match we've been a part of."
Central has played some outstanding competition from the Kansas City area this season. After an 0-3 start, the Indians went onto win three matches in a row, and are now 5-6 on the season.
Not bad, McCamy says, considering nearly all of the schools that Central plays have had either club or intramural volleyball for at least a few years.
"If we can get to a team that I believe, maybe on paper we shouldn't beat, then we're really starting to make those stepping stones in the right direction," he said. "Now, it's always going to be a challenge for us right now, because all of those teams in the Kansas City area have been playing 4-5 years of volleyball."
McCamy’s top assistant is former Missouri Western libero and Leavenworth native Jessica Sachen. She says transitioning from playing women’s college volleyball, to coaching first-year varsity boys, can be a challenge, but also a great reward.
"I love to see growth," she said. "That's why I chose high school, whether it was girls or boys. I wanted to see growth in general in the athletes. I think that's what made me love coaching, really. So, love the boys. Love the team. There's been a lot of growth. I'm excited to see what the next year holds."
Sophomore and outside hitter A.J. Whiteman first tried volleyball in one of McCamy’s P.E. classes.
"Playing volleyball in there was super fun," Whiteman recalled. "Having all of my new teammates trying out this new sport. It was just super exciting compared to basketball. I just got right into it and wanted to learn more."
Freshman libero Rifath Lian says the best part about the experience has been the development and growth of team chemistry.
"We started off really rough," Lian said. "We didn't have great communication. We lacked a lot of skills and we hit the ball very bad. Like, ego hitting. But, I mean, we've gotten a lot better since the start."
Central is the only school in northwest Missouri, north of Kansas City, that’s tried boys’ volleyball so far.
McCamy estimates that won’t be the case much longer.
"With MSHSAA making a stance and saying this is a sport for us, I think you'll see substantial growth because of it. I think there's going to be just a lot more growth here."
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