Parent urges Martin County schools to add boys volleyball to keep students in district

A Martin County parent urged the school board to add a boys volleyball program, saying the absence of the sport is prompting students to leave the public district for private schools and limiting college opportunities.

Misty Connolly, who said she lives in Martin County and has children in Crystal Lake Elementary and South Fork High School, spoke during public comment about boys volleyball. "I'm actually here to talk about boys volleyball," she said, adding that the sport is an important recruiting and scholarship pathway. "The Bulldogs took the Conk championship this past weekend... I'm one of their biggest cheerleaders."

Connolly told the board that in neighboring Palm Beach County roughly 63 public middle and high schools offer boys volleyball and that many college men's volleyball programs are concentrated on the East Coast. She said there are about 239 men's volleyball colleges and listed examples of institutions that offer men's volleyball, including Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Harvard and UCLA. She said some local students travel up to two hours to play and that club costs make the sport "elitist," giving local middle- and high-school teams their only accessible option.

Connolly said vouchers and private-school recruitment have driven enrollment declines in public schools and that families in some cases are offered private-school options so their children can play sports not offered locally. She said her family considered moving to a neighboring county with boys volleyball but chose to remain in Martin County, and urged the board to expand programs so local students have equitable access to sports and related scholarship pathways.

Board members received the comment during the public-comment portion; no formal action on programming was taken at the meeting.