The Lasting Impact of the Boys Volleyball Class of 2020 April 30, 2020 |
Like everyone else in our community, we are heartbroken to learn that the Boys’ Volleyball Season has been cancelled. We are especially heartbroken for our seniors. We know the amount of time you spent honing your skills and attending volleyball camps. We know that you spent countless hours working on your strength and agility. We know how many of you spent this winter, many of you traveling around New England and up and down the East Coast, devoting your senior weekends to playing club volleyball. You did this not only because you love volleyball, but also in preparation for that one final season of high school volleyball. Now this vicious pandemic has stolen volleyball and so much of your high school experience from you. But what COVID 19 will never take from any of you are the invaluable contributions you have given to Boys’ High School Volleyball in Massachusetts. We hope you realize this; I say this not out of pity or to motivate you. I say this as someone who, for 20 years, both as a player and a coach, has been associated with Boys’ Volleyball in Massachusetts. Please know that you’ve made the level of Boys’ High School Volleyball is significantly higher than it was when you entered high school. Because of you, there are better male athletes being drawn to our sport. Because of you, Boys’ Volleyball is no longer an afterthought for athletes who don’t feel good enough to play lacrosse or baseball; instead athletes are choosing volleyball over these sports. We as coaches once worried about losing basketball players in our program to AAU basketball, but it is now high school basketball coaches concerned with losing their athletes to Club Volleyball. And know that this metamorphosis and growth is the result of the unrelenting service you have given to our sport. While we share pain that is perhaps deeper than any other we have felt, and this pain is exacerbated by not being able to see one another and play this game we all love, please take solace in knowing these truths. From us at PHD Volleyball, from your high school coaches, and from all of your high school teammates, thank you class of 2020 for what you have done to grow the sport of volleyball within our state. - Dave Powell Jr. |