Grupe initiates boys’ volleyball club team

Volleyball has long been a female dominated sport at HC and in high schools across Kentucky. HC teacher and volleyball coach Dale Grupe recently decided that it’s time for boys to have a chance and will be starting a boys volleyball team in March.

Grupe first rallied interest with a boys volleyball clinic on Tuesday the 23rd as a way to thank the boys who have supported the girls’ volleyball team throughout the season, as well as to see if boys volleyball would be viable.

“We had a lot of boys come out and support our girls this year,” Grupe said, “ and we just wanted to thank them.”

The boys volleyball team season will start in March as a club sport, hosted by Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association (KVCA). Grupe, in association with the KVCA, is currently trying to rally interest in the sport.

“I do think there’s interest already,” Grupe said. “It really works out well, because the gyms are empty since the basketball seasons over by [March]”

HC Senior Dakota Kimes is one of the many students to attend the clinic and is hoping to join the team in March.

“I like that we’re finally getting a chance for men to play volleyball,” Kimes said. “I know a lot of guys who have talked about wanting to play, but we haven’t had a team so we haven’t been able to play.”

Kimes is a long-time player and advocate for the sport.

“It’s probably my second favorite sport behind football,” Kimes said. “I really like it because it’s not a personal game, the team plays as a whole.”

Grupe is also hoping to gain support from other Kentucky schools as a way to make it more wide-spread as a male sport.

“If in two years we can get at least 50 schools across the state, it’ll become a sanctioned sport,” Grupe said.

The season would start in early March and would be 16 games over 8 weeks. Grupe is hoping to rally a team of at least 6-10 boys and join the season. If you have questions or would like to sign up, you can visit Grupe in room 114.