By Gypsy Knarr--Eagle Staff Writer
FCHS offers many sports with both boys' and girls' teams. Then there's one sport that has only one team: volleyball, and it’s exclusively for girls. This brings up the question: why is there no boys' volleyball at Franklin County High School? FCHS Athletic Director Bradley Lang had a lot of important information to share on this topic.
It turns out that FCHS doesn’t offer a boys' volleyball team because of a lack of interest across the state and district. Lang explained, “We do not have enough interest in boys' volleyball in our area of the state to justify a boys' volleyball team. Currently in the state of Virginia, only some schools in Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Virginia Beach have a boys' volleyball team.”
One might wonder if offering an FCHS boys' volleyball option would generate more interest, but there's still the problem of competition. “Even if we had the interest, there are no local teams to schedule for competition,” Lang continued. It would seem that boys' volleyball just isn't as popular statewide as some other sports.
Of course, some sports are played through clubs rather than formal curricular teams, as Lang described. “There could be a club started if there was a faculty sponsor; [however] the biggest hurdle would be finding gym space.”
If a student wanted to get a volleyball club started, there’s a process for that. “There would have to be big interest in an established club outside of school just as a travel team," Lang explained, and it's been done before. “That is what happened with starting Lacrosse about 9 years ago. There was an established club team with high participation.”
Besides gym space, money is also a concern, said Lang. “Starting a new team would require school board approval and funding established for a program. Funds for athletics are a combination of funds set aside from the school board as well as ticket sales for all athletic events. Funding would have to include coaching stipends, uniforms, equipment, travel, and officials fees.”
Lang explained that if the boys' team began as a club with its own sponsor, it would solve both the interest issue and the funding problem. “When Lacrosse started, the club funded the entire program year one and then eventually was taken over by the school.” Boys' volleyball might follow a similar path.
It seems to take a lot to create and fund a club team, especially when overcoming modest interest in the sport to begin with. Still, if the girls' team is any indication, a boys' team would likely do well: “Girls volleyball has been traditionally very successful at FCHS,” said Lang. Moreover, “Adding a boys' team would bring more attention to volleyball in general, and having another volleyball team could bring more students participating in sports.”
It’s clear that there’s a process to starting any new team - boys' volleyball included - and the first step is for someone to get the volleyball rolling. While a new team could be beneficial by keeping students in a community and giving them another extracurricular option, as of right now, it appears the timing isn't quite right.
Great article, I wish we had enough to offer this.