Boys volleyball 'engulfing local areas' as newest MHSAA sport

For the first time in 20 years, there's a new boys' high school sport on the spring schedule. The Michigan High School Athletic Association added boys volleyball this season after schools across the state expressed interest in sponsorship from the organization. "They've been knocking on our door for about eight years now," MHSAA assistant director Andi Osters said.

"There's a community of young men who have really found their niche here, and the sport is the one they are most passionate about. " Boys volleyball in Michigan started as a club sport in 2018 with four schools on the west side of the state: Allendale, Grand Rapids Christian, Grand Haven, and Kalamazoo Christian. This season 118 teams will compete for the first MHSAA state championship.

Grand Haven girls volleyball coach Aaron Smaka, along with Grand Rapids Christian athletic director Jason Heerema and former boys volleyball coach Brad Poel, helped organize the sport under the Michigan Boys Volleyball program. Smaka said the program's goal was to see it become an MHSAA sport and structured the program to reflect the association's policies. "Our philosophy as Michigan Boys Volleyball, is that everything we did had to mirror what it would look like as a MHSAA sport, even if we weren't going to be recognized," Smaka said.

"We wanted everything to eat, breathe, act [and] sound like an MHSAA sport so that when the time came, and we were big enough … MHSAA would look at everything we did and say, 'Yup, this is the kind of thing we want to bring on board. '" From idea to contender Over the past two years, the sport has developed a presence on the east side of the state, Smaka said. Some schools that have had programs before this season include Novi Detroit Catholic Central, Saline, Rochester Adams, Northville and Farmington.