Boys volleyball misses MSHSL approval by one vote

The Minnesota State High School League held its annual Representative Assembly meeting Tuesday with two action items on the agenda: vote on boys volleyball as a MSHSL sanctioned sport, and consider a bylaw to add new language on participation for high school athletes.

The proposal to make boys volleyball a sanctioned high school sport failed in 2021 by two votes. This year, the sport remained one vote short of approval. The MSHSL assembly defeated the proposal 31-17. The sport needed 32 votes, or two-thirds of the votes, to be approved.

The bylaw change, however, was approved on a 48-0 vote. The new language says: "Each student is eligible for participation in league-sponsored athletic activities for four consecutive school years beginning with their initial entrance into ninth grade. This school year limitation applies regardless of whether the student participates in athletic activities.

"Students in Grades 7 and 8 may participate in League-sponsored activities according to Bylaw 105.1. Participation begins once a seventh- or eighth-grader practices or competes in League-sponsored athletics. Students are permitted one school year of participation in seventh grade and one school year of participation in eighth grade for League-sponsored athletics."

Boys volleyball

The request for boys volleyball has reached the representative assembly for the past three years.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposal was tabled in May 2020. In 2021, the proposal failed by two votes with one abstention. Boys volleyball is in its fourth season as a recreation or club activity in some schools across the state.

In 2018, 22 school and 38 teams participated in the sport. A year later, 49 schools and 94 teams played boys volleyball. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but 57 schools and 105 teams were registered prior to the cancellation. There were more than 700 boys registered to play in the 2021 spring season.

The newly proposed amendment to Bylaw 520 was supported and signed by 19 officials, board members and athletic directors from Eagan, Shakopee, Lakeville South, Farmington, Osseo, Prior Lake, Hmong Prep Academy, St. Paul Harding, St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District, Eden Prairie, Twin Cities Academy, Kasson-Mantorville, Rochester Mayo, Minnetonka, Hutchinson, Lakeville North, Great River, Andover and Mabel Canton.

The boys volleyball sport will need to wait until next May to have another opportunity to see if this sport can be sanctioned in 2023.

Brian Mozey is the high school sports reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-255-8772 or bmozey@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianMozey.

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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Boys volleyball one vote short of becoming Minnesota high school sport