NO!
29 “Regional Representatives” voted in favor of Boy’s Volleyball being sanctioned by the State H.S. League, vs 18 voting against it; but apparently, it requires a two-thirds majority, so the measure fell 3 votes short (32 – 15 would have passed).
The State H.S. League did approve Girl’s Wrestling. According to today’s Strib, there were 57 schools and 1400 boys playing volleyball, un-sanctioned by the State H.S. League, prior to the pandemic, compared to 153 girls signed up for wrestling. Reasons offered for voting against Boy’s Volleyball included “budgetary concerns,” “timing” related to the pandemic, and “maybe next year.” But clearly, the real reason is Title IX; and Title IX isn’t going away, so I don’t get how “next year” is going to be any easier.
I coached Women’s Softball for 10 years, Girls Volleyball for 8 years and Gopher Women’s Water Polo for 6 years. I am a big fan of the Lynx and Gopher Women’s Basketball. (I have no opinion one way or the other about Girl’s Wrestling.) And you know how I feel about Gopher Women’s Volleyball. So I’m not exactly anti-Girl’s & Women’s sports, or anti- Title IX. But I think not expanding to include Boy’s Volleyball was stupid. Someone with a functioning brain needs to figure this out!
P.S. One would think it makes sense for the State H.S. League to support life-long sports. There are 40 over-65 guys in my BAJ volleyball league, I know of two similar leagues in the South Metro alone, I hear there are others leagues North and East Metro, and I assume there are over-65 Women’s Volleyball Leagues (does anyone know?). So clearly volleyball is a life-long sport. I wonder is there are any over-65 Women’s Wrestling Leagues?
P.S. #2 An entirely different take: Is the State H.S. League even relevant in our post-pandemic world?
D-1 College Coaches don’t spend much time scouting high school games in most sports (football might be the exception), because the talent is spread too thin. The real action in volleyball, basketball, swimming, etcetera, is at the club level; and at “camps.” And more and more, we’re seeing kids (especially hockey players) skip their senior year of H.S. hockey altogether, in favor of club hockey.
I mentioned above my personal experience coaching Women’s Softball, Girls Volleyball and Women’s Water Polo, but I also coached boy’s and men’s Water Polo and senior men’s volleyball. And all of this, some 40+ years of coaching, was entirely club sports. (My W-Polo teams often competed against varsity programs, but we never were.) I got paid less, but I was never in it for the money; I had a “day job.” And never did I coach an athlete who was there for the wrong reasons, as can happen with varsity and scholarship sports; every athlete I coached was there because they loved the sport.
And high schools barely exist anyway. They were closed most of the past year, and even now “virtual-school” rivals “in-person” schools. Maybe high schools should focus on academics and get out of sports all together. Like the Europeans.