SUCCESS

sophomore Jaxson Terreros was convinced by his friend Nick Martini to join.

Terreros was impressed with Kirchhoff’s leadership, the low stakes culture of the club and the support he got from the seniors.

“The [seniors] are like freak athletes compared to me,” Terros said. “But the first time I met Tyler, he was coming to our first meeting with bagels for everyone, putting in the time and effort to set this club up on his own.”

NOW WE’LL WORK together to make sure this club continues even after [the seniors] leave this year.

TYLER KIRCHOFF

SENIOR a club and they’re an actual sports team.”

With limited opportunities for practice before the season starts and only the five returning players with experience playing competitively, the team asked senior and varsity volleyball player Ava McDonald to help coach.

As boys volleyball is not an officially approved sport by the Kansas State High School Activities Association, the team joined the Heart of America KC Boys Volleyball League.

Kirchhoff believes this year will see improvements including more accessible practice locations and a decline in player fees.

“[Last year’s returning players] all agreed that we did a poor job last year,” Kirchhoff said. “Now we’ll work together to make sure this club continues even after [the seniors] leave this year.”

With little experience playing volleyball outside of eighth grade gym glass,

This year, Kirchhoff registered the team as an official East Club, proving a cost-cutting benefit they lacked access to last year like free use of the East gym for practices.

But even with a free practice space, without KSHSAA approval, the team has no funding for other expenses. Now, new players will have required fees to play.

This year’s participation fee will be $200 dollars for new players, and $110 for returning seniors — much cheaper than last year according to Kirchhoff. This helps pay for league fees, uniforms, equipment and other expenses.

McDonald’s job as coach is to attend games and practices, set up drills and individually work with players while Kirchhoff handles the organizational components of running a club — emailing parents, coordinating with club sponsors and promoting the team’s tryouts and games.

“I don’t necessarily think of myself as a coach, but more of a friend,” McDonald said. “I’ve been playing volleyball with them for years, and over the last couple, I’ve seen them all really improve and I want to do my best to continue that trend.”

WINNING GAMES will always be fun. Watching everyon get better and take the program further each year will be great to see.

AVA MCDONALD

SENIOR

However, there are drawbacks to the team’s new club status. According to Kirchhoff, the club isn’t prioritized compared to approved school sports.

“For example, if track gets rained out one day and they can’t use the field for practice, we get kicked out of the gym so they can run,” Kirchhoff said. “We’re just

Important events

Senior and team member

Roberto Galicia is excited to see how McDonald’s volleyball experience will add to her leadership.

“Ava is going to be running more practices as coach compared to last year’s [coaches],” Galicia said. “She’s gonna give us more drills and training exercises to help improve before our games.”

The goal for this year remains the same as last year: improvement.

“Winning games will always be fun,” McDonald said. “Watching everyone get better and take the program further each year will be great to see.”

- MIDDLE HITTER

- PLAYED FOR 9 YEARS

- CLUB FOR 3 YEARS

- JV AS FRESHMAN

- 3 YEARS VARSITY ACCOLADES

- POWER LEAGUE

TOURNAMENT 2020

- LOUISBURG TOURNAMENT 2021

- LOUISBURG TOURNAMENT 2022

Spike Boys

FIRST GAME OF