For as long as volleyball has been a Minnesota State High School League sport, there has only been a women’s league. Minnesota is not alone, as volleyball has long been considered a “women’s sport.”
However, the lack of in-school options has not prevented senior Dashiell Horstman from playing. Hostman plays club volleyball outside of school for a team called MN Select.
“Club teams have been here for a while, however, next year men’s volleyball will become an actual school sport,” Horstman said. They are excited to see the sport added to the official roster of MSHSL sports and join about half the nation in recognizing the game.
Interestingly, the sport was initially created as a game geared towards men due to societal attitudes about gender and athletics. It was called “mintonette” and was designed to offer a game less strenuous than basketball (“invented” four years prior). Only later, did volleyball evolve to be considered a women’s sport.
People realized it was a lot of boys who wouldn’t have played a sport for school otherwise.
— Arden Lillemoe
Last May, the Minnesota State High School League voted to add Boys’ Volleyball as a league-sanctioned sport after years of attempts. This April, the MSHSL announced that boys’ volleyball will be a spring sport and begin during the 2024-25 school year. According to CBS, Minnesota was the 25th state in the nation to make boys’ volleyball an official sport. The announcement comes at a time of relatively high interest state-wide and a rise in the sport’s popularity. Of all US states, Minnesota ranks 10th in participation in the sport.
Advocates for men’s volleyball have been trying to make it official for years. Senior Arden Lillemoe played volleyball from 2020 until this year and was involved in the statewide approval process. Lillemoe attended a MNHSL convention where delegates voted against sanctioning boys’ volleyball. They approved it a year later.
Lillemoe said the MNHSL approval came when delegates realized a few important facts about the sport. “People realized it was a lot of boys who wouldn’t have played a sport for school otherwise. One of the main arguments was it would take away from other sports at the same time, but they realized that 92% of kids playing volleyball with [men’s] clubs weren’t playing any other sports,” he said.
Unlike Lillemoe who had been playing since 2020, Horstman only got into volleyball recently; they started playing last year and quickly moved from JV to varsity, and will soon begin as a starting player.
“I started because my friend Arden played. He got me into it,” Dashiell Horstman said.
Having done track and cross country in the past, Hostman feels like volleyball offers new challenges and they enjoy the technicality and camaraderie of the sport.
“It’s a lot of fun to be hitting and blocking,” Horstman said.
Their team, MN Select, practices around three times a week and plays two to three games a week until the end of May. Games are played against other men’s volleyball teams in the Minnesota Mens’ Volleyball League. Due to the low number of men’s teams, everyone plays in one league instead of in conferences and/or sections.
At this point, it is unknown whether SPA will have a team next year. Adding a sport can be tricky based on participation numbers and funding. Nevertheless, club volleyball will continue to be an option for non-female students who want to try their hand at something new.
