Men’s volleyball league: “It’s lit!”

Move over, girls volleyball. There’s a new contender on the rise.

With their two-week anniversary exactly one day from yesterday, the first Westside Men’s Volleyball League is already off to a great start. Founded by sophomores Ethan Goldner and Cedric Homan and senior Nolan Dondlinger, the team is made up of boys from all grades, and sometimes guidance counselor Ted Dondlinger likes to join in on the fun.  

“I started as the sponsor, just to be an adult in the same gym as these young men,” Ted Dondlinger said. “For the first half hour I think that kind of worked, and then by the last half hour I was playing with them.”

Although the idea came to Homan and Goldner at the end of last year, it wasn’t until the three of them saw this year’s Olympic men’s volleyball teams that they truly felt inspired to make the league happen.

“I watched the Olympics and saw the the U.S. Men’s Volleyball team and thought, ‘Wow, this would be really cool at Westside,’” Nolan said. “Then I asked my dad about it, and he said Ethan and Cedric were talking about it.”

After two meetings with Assistant Principal Trudi Nolin, the boys were able to make their dream a reality. At their first weekly Monday meeting on Aug. 22, 18 boys attended, with the team quickly expanding to 22 players by the second week.

“If someone doesn’t know a lot of people or isn’t good with teamwork, just come, and [we] help work it in.” Goldner said.

Homan, who hopes to see the league grow and someday follow the model of Westside’s Intramural Basketball team, was surprised by the amount of experience and understanding of the game that members showed on the first day.

“There were only two or three kids who didn’t know all the rules,” Homan said. “Which is surprising, because I was expecting a lot more of us having to teach, but we were able to play a lot more.”

With a growing number of attendees, gym space seems to be the only current issue for the league. This problem is likely to be magnified with the start of the Junior Warriors Feeder Program at the high school in October. 

“That’s our main problem,” Homan said. “We’re not expecting this to last very long. [Nolin] said we have [the gym] for sure for eight weeks and then maybe more.”

With a goal, in the words of Goldner, “to better improve the Westside boy’s student body in their volleyball ability,” the league will not let limited time and space prevent them achieving their ultimate goal of having fun.

“I think when guys can get together and do something constructive and they enjoy doing it, it’s good,” Ted Dondlinger said. “I think anytime you find an activity for high schoolers to be a part of, it helps them be engaged with their studies as well.”

Improving in both skill and numbers, the league is hoping to take on one of the girls volleyball teams sometime before the end of the season.

“It’s lit,” said junior participant Andrew Overgaard. “Everyone should come join. We’re gonna take on the girls varsity team and they’re going down.”

If you’re interested, contact Homan, Goldner or Dondlinger to join. Catch the team, and maybe if you’re lucky Mr. Dondlinger too, in action again next Monday.