Volleyball is a very popular sport that has evolved over the years. Created by William G Morgan, it was originally made to combine multiple sports, including aspects of basketball, baseball, handball, and tennis. Originally, volleyball used to be a new and fun PE sport. After many years of development, volleyball eventually rose out of PE and into professional fields. The growth of volleyball, especially in high school, has led to it having a girl-dominant cover when people look at it from the outside. Unfortunately, many people judge volleyball for how it looks, or its stereotypes, but not many see on the inside how men’s volleyball is equally, if not even harder than they think. Men’s volleyball has many physically demanding aspects, difficult skills players need to learn, a positive culture, and popularity that not many see when they first look at volleyball.
Even though volleyball is seen as a girl’s sport, there are still some well-known men’s names that a lot of people recognize because of their near-inhuman capabilities and accomplishments. One of these people is Simeon Nikolov, an 18-year-old who was in the 2024 Olympics, for the team Bulgaria. He was then offered a scholarship at Long Beach because of his volleyball talents. One may wonder, “What did he do to be so successful?” First, look at his skills. At an outstanding 6ft 9in, Simion Nikolov can easily work around the net that is 7 ft 11 in. With his height, Simeon Nikolov can easily trick the other team by dumping or setting the ball at the last minute. Along with his height, Simeon Nikolov’s arm is like a cannon. Recently, Simeon Nikolov broke the NCAA record with an 80 mph serve. Another very influential volleyball player is Yuji Nishida. Yuji Nishida plays for the Japanese volleyball team. At a young age of 25 and a height of 6ft, he is easily one of the youngest and smallest players on his team. Despite his height, Nishida can jump and hit the highest and hardest on his team. For example, Yuji Nishida can reach a height of 11 ft. This is over 4 ft over the men’s net, which is around 8ft.
Similar to Nishida, Andrew Rowan is another popular name that people around the NCAA community hear. Andrew Rowan is a setter for the UCLA team. He is known to be one of the best players, even though he is very short for college volleyball. He has tricked, blocked, and outsmarted many teams over his career and is one of the most influential players. Though these players’ remarkable skills redefine the sport, they also raise the level of volleyball men’s divisions. By influencing their popularity, they can increase popularity in men’s volleyball, washing out the age-old common stereotype of volleyball being meant for girls. Not only are they spreading the sport to the world, but also influencing a new generation of both women and men volleyball players to thrive and attempt to be better.
While these players are already a big image of how physically demanding volleyball can be, how hard is it for someone to learn? One very hard skill a player will need to know in volleyball is to spike the ball. Whilst spiking the ball itself isn’t hard, having a high vertical is what makes it difficult. In volleyball, the higher vertical someone has (how high they jump), the more they can put power onto the ball and hit it straight down so the other team cannot receive it. In volleyball, players have to imagine their arms as a clock. Players can put the most power into the ball when the ball is at 1 o’clock in front of them. If the ball is anywhere else or the players are off time, their spike will not be hard enough to have an impact on the other team. Alongside spiking, receiving is a very hard skill to master. Receiving is often hard because players need confidence and technique to bump the ball properly to allow the setter to set up their team correctly. On top of this, a volleyball can be spiked at around 40-60 mph in the 13/14u level. Another very hard skill to learn is how to react and dive without hurting oneself. In volleyball, because of the speed of the ball, players will need to react very fast to balls that are going out, in, short, or deep. On top of that, sometimes players won’t have a quick reaction. What will they do? Another skill players need to learn is diving. Diving is not a very efficient way to keep the ball up but should be used as a last resort. Diving is a hard skill because players need to prioritize keeping the ball up while keeping themselves safe. Diving is very hard because it feels like taking a leap of faith onto the floor and saving oneself at the last minute. Doing this without proper technique can result in bad consequences, for example, breaking one’s nose if slammed on the floor. Men’s and women’s volleyball have two different skill bases. Men’s volleyball skills bases can be just as hard as women’s because men require the same effort, but in different categories of skills that take time and effort to improve to do them properly and effectively.
With the growing number of under-18 boys and college players, there is an increase in the popularity of men’s volleyball. On a first-hand account, playing at the open national championships, over 20-40 spectators can watch one’s game. Alongside this, recruiters and scouts usually watch games to see if they want to recruit a player to be a part of their team in upcoming years. Many people will watch teams play because of the influence of college and Olympic men’s volleyball. They want to see if a team plays just like pros. In a similar situation, a recent match between Long Beach and UCLA had sold out tickets at the Pyramid in Long Beach. To put it in perspective, the Pyramid Stadium has over 21,000 seats. All of these seats were sold out just to watch a D1 college men’s volleyball match. Somewhat similar to the College division, there is a significant increase in men’s Olympic volleyball, too. Last year, in 2024, men’s Olympic volleyball had over 120,000 spectators. Comparing this to previous years, in 2019, only around 20,000 seats were sold. The popularity of men’s volleyball has also influenced younger club players. Due to social media apps like TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, if a pro does something cool, new, or unusual in a game, people will most likely see it inside a club game. The popularity of men’s volleyball has increased over the years. With the number of men’s players continuing to grow male players won’t feel out of place or left out when playing and will almost definitely be seen when done at a high-performance level.
With the growing number of under-18 boys and college players, there is an increase in the popularity of men’s volleyball. On a first-hand account, playing at the open national championships, over 20-40 spectators can watch one’s game. Alongside this, recruiters and scouts usually watch games to see if they want to recruit a player to be a part of their team in upcoming years. Many people will watch teams play because of the influence of college and Olympic men’s volleyball. They want to see if a team plays just like pros. In a similar situation, a recent match between Long Beach and UCLA had sold out tickets at the Pyramid in Long Beach. To put it in perspective, the Pyramid Stadium has over 21,000 seats. All of these seats were sold out just to watch
a D1 college men’s volleyball match. Somewhat similar to the College division, there is a significant increase in men’s Olympic volleyball, too. Last year, in 2024, men’s Olympic volleyball had over 120,000 spectators. Comparing this to previous years, in 2019, only around 20,000 seats were sold. The popularity of men’s volleyball has also influenced younger club players. Due to social media apps like TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, if a pro does something cool, new, or unusual in a game, people will most likely see it inside a club game. The popularity of men’s volleyball has increased over the years. With the number of men’s players continuing to grow male players won’t feel out of place or left out when playing and will almost definitely be seen when done at a high-performance level.
Overall, Volleyball can not only teach a person valuable life skills, but also provide a positive and supportive environment where they can grow, relieve stress, and build meaningful connections with teammates.