Men’s volleyball spikes down

Men’s volleyball is struggling in Michigan

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Liliana Valenza

Men’s volleyball in Michigan is nonexistent. Many student athlete’s believe the sport should be included for the men and there are ways to implement it into sports at school.

Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas are just a number of states who recognize men’s volleyball as a sport in a school setting, but not in Michigan.

While being a top sport in many states, men’s volleyball is primarily absent in Michigan. The occasional Powderbuff tournaments at school are not enough for students who would like to pursue the sport.

According to volleyballmag.com over 80% of volleyball players worldwide are women, meaning less than 20% are men. 

It’s not just Michigan suffering from the lack of men’s volleyball.

“Title 9 was signed into law by President Richard Nixon to prohibit sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving any type of federal financial aid,” womenssportfoundation.org said.

Although there needs to be a perfect ratio of men’s and women’s sports, there are ways to also balance it out. Implementing another women’s sport, such as women’s wrestling would make men’s volleyball’s addition to schools possible.

One could make the argument that men could try out for the women’s team under title 9 if they really wanted to play volleyball. Some may not want to, to spare the embarrassment from peers only if they would feel any.

Men’s volleyball clubs are rare in Michigan: they are spread apart and far between. Interest in the sport has peaked and there are talented athletes hoping to get their chance to play. 

All in all, one could argue, “why should we add it now? Will there even be any interest in it?” However, statistics from volleyballmag.com say that volleyball is, “one of the several sports gaining interest from all across the country.” So that point is not true.