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Hoke County High explores boys volleyball; staff propose club start and seek grants
Summary
Athletic staff said there is strong student interest in boys volleyball and proposed beginning as a club and competing in spring; staff identified grant funding to offset start-up costs and noted statewide sanctioning requires about 25% of member schools.
Athletic staff presented a proposal to add a boys volleyball program at Hoke County High School, saying the sport has strong student interest and that starting now as a club would position the school well if and when the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) formally sanctions boys volleyball.
Mr. Covington told the board the sport is currently organized through the North Carolina Boys Volleyball Association and that roughly 12–18 schools have been participating outside NCHSAA sanctioning. He said the district had identified a grant that would offset start-up costs for one to one-and-a-half years so the program could launch without immediate district expense, and that the sport would be a spring activity to avoid competing with girls volleyball or basketball for gym space.
Covington said the district had interest from students and potential coaches, that staff had conducted preliminary outreach and interviews for coaching candidates, and that starting as a club would let the school build competitiveness before official sanctioning. He said sanctioning by the state association requires a threshold (presenters discussed a 25% threshold of member schools paying into the association; Covington cited figures that the state needed about 118 schools and that 104 were participating in the organizing association at the time of his remarks).
Covington compared the proposed rollout to the district’s early adoption of girls wrestling, which he said allowed the district to develop competitive depth before statewide adoption. Board members had no substantive objections in the presentation portion and the staff said they planned to begin the program in March as a club ahead of formal recognition.
