A ‘Spike’ in Interest: Big City Volleyball Offering Kids Something Different

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning in Manhattan where inside the Grace Church and School sneakers are squeaking along the gym floor as children are running, jumping, and sweating. Coaches guide them with a watchful eye through drills that promote teamwork as much as they do individual skill.

Now you may be thinking that these kids are playing basketball. After all, it is the most popular indoor youth sport in Manhattan.

However, it’s volleyball, not basketball, serving as the main attraction this morning – as in Big City Volleyball’s Youth Program. Open to children 10-16, it gives kids the chance to try something other than the traditional sports offered by their local community organizations.

Kids who may have never discovered the sport now have a chance to learn the fundamentals and develop their skills. It even affords some the opportunity to potentially secure a volleyball scholarship to go to college if they stick with it.

It’s safe to say that Big City Volleyball is changing the way children and parents look at youth sports.

David Walker, who took over as League Director of BCV in the fall of 2007, says that the program just arose out of necessity.

“I received dozens and dozens of phone calls and e-mails from parents looking for volleyball activities for their kids,” said Walker. “There are tons of kids that want to learn volleyball but it seems they always get pushed into basketball or soccer because that’s all that’s there.”

Started in 1995, BCV was originally just an indoor volleyball league for adults but expanded their reach to children in February of this year. The expansion filled the need for a program that shows kids how to play the game correctly under the supervision of seasoned instructors.

“This isn’t necessarily a program that helps kids make their varsity, club or AAU team,” said Walker. “It’s just a chance to teach kids who love volleyball and wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to play.”

The process of bringing the children’s program to fruition didn’t happen overnight though. In January of 2009 Walker met Christen Casey, a former professional volleyball player and youth program director, and the two came up with the idea.

“I was really surprised there wasn’t a youth program in the city. Especially with having one of the biggest parks in the country in Central Park,” said Casey.

The two conducted the necessary research before finally launching the program. It took a full year to get it up and running but they eventually made it happen.

BCV’s Youth Volleyball Program is currently home to 60 kids and just wrapped up their winter session. They are essentially the only program of their kind in New York City and participants come from every corner of the five boroughs for a chance to learn the game.

The fact that they had 30 children sign up for their inaugural class with little advertisement or promotion says a lot about the interest level in the area. Walker says that he expects around 250 kids next year.

Most parents came across BCV by doing a simple internet search after observing their son or daughter express an interest in the sport.

“My Dad found it online and he thought it would be really awesome for me because I like volleyball,” said 10-year old Sarina Savage from Manhattan. “It’s fun because you can just hit the ball and the instructors are awesome.”

There is no volleyball offered at Sarina’s school. In fact, most of the children that participate in BCV’s program do not have volleyball as an option at their school. Interestingly enough, Casey said she always had volleyball in school while growing up in the Midwest.

Since most of the kids have never played before, instructors typically begin with an emphasis on using the arms and body awareness as well as learning basic vocabulary of the game.

“The classes are for self-mastery and fundamentals,” Casey said. Also teamwork is a big thing. We’re always going over bumping, serving, spiking, and setting as well as different techniques within each of those.”

During one session, children used basketballs to practice overhand passes. The goal here is to master the passes with the heavier basketball so that when they switch back to the volleyball handling it comes much easier.

“We created the lesson plan assuming that each child has never played before. We’re always coming up with something fun and new and contests are always involved.”

While youth sports mainstays like baseball, soccer, and basketball will always be around, volleyball now serves as another viable option for the youth of New York City. An option that may have never become available if it wasn’t for Walker and Casey, as well as the dozens of parents who went the extra mile to let it be known that there was a pressing need for such a program.

Christen Casey played collegiately at Syracuse and professionally in Germany. She also served as National and Regional Director of Youth and Adult Programs for Volleyball Professionals in Chicago. Other instructors include Adam Delgado, Nora Hsu, Rambod Jamshidian, and Kevin Edwards.

You can find out more information about Big City Volleyball’s Youth Program by visiting http://www.bigcityvolleyball.c... or calling (212) 288-4240.