For the past three years, Wilson’s Boy’s Volleyball Team has been decreasing in numbers. After the 2025 spring season is over, the Boy’s Volleyball Team will be scarce in numbers. If nothing changes, the team may have to disband due to the lack of players and those interested in the sport. In Spring 2024, the Junior Varsity Team (JV) made up of underclassmen was largely made up of sophomores. However, the team may now only have a few eligible players in the upcoming Spring season.
A varsity team is made up of around 10-12 players. Wilson’s Boy’s Volleyball Varsity Team is made up largely of seniors, who will be graduating in the year 2025. After the seniors take their leave, there will be a limited number of players left on the Varsity Team. With the lack of new people joining, the shortage of new players will likely lead to the unfortunate end of the Wilson Boy’s Volleyball Team.
Ethan Wooldridge, who has been a player on the team since his freshman year and has played for JV and Varsity says, “We aren’t really a talked about sport. Most of the players either reach out to the coach directly or ask their friends to join. A lot of the time students aren’t informed of the volleyball team.” He then goes on to say, “Upperclassmen are usually asked to reach out and get other players. People don’t pay attention to the team as much as other sports, which hurts us and makes it harder for us to get new people interested.” From these comments, it is obvious that members of the Wilson Boy’s Volleyball Team feel less recognized and appreciated compared to more popular sports. .
People attending the Boy’s Volleyball games are typically friends and or family of the players in the games. There is rarely anything promoting their games or tryouts unless heard from the voice of a volleyball enthusiast. There are few outside sources that promote and keep up with their games, one of which is called Berks Game Day. However, the site isn’t necessarily the most reliable since the player’s names aren’t even all spelled correctly.
After researching the Wilson High School Sports Media Instagram account, out of the 196 posts dating back to September 12, 2023, 18 of those posts feature Wilon’s Boy’s Volleyball Team as a mention to their progress along with the other sports in those same posts. One of these 18 posts is dedicated solely to a senior who graduated in the class of 2024 who was on the Boy’s Volleyball Team, as opposed to the baseball team, swim team, basketball team, football team and wrestling team who have multiple posts dedicated to and providing publicity to their athletes, games, matches and achievements. The Girl’s Volleyball Team had 45 posts on the Wilson Sports Media Instagram account during that time. Now, to be fair, this was, at least in part, because they had a very successful post-season in counties, districts, etc. I point this out not to disparage anyone who runs those social media accounts, but to provide a solution – while the rest of us have to do our part, too, the Wilson team could definitely make even more of an effort to promote less visible sports and clubs more.
The team desperately needs new players. Anyone interested in joining, with or without experience, is welcome with open arms to try out. Tryouts are usually held in late Feb. to early March. Volleyball is a sport that can be played as a hobby or competitively. Regardless of the player’s reason for playing, the team will always stick together. If interested in playing for the Wilson Boy’s Volleyball, contact Coach Andrew Olree ([email protected]) or Ethan Wooldridge / Player ([email protected]) for more information.
