Thousands still dig volleyball leagues
There are several places in Butler County where players can hit volleyballs.
At Slippery Rock University, students and staff can play for fun or sport.
Robert Rhodes, SRU director of intramural sports, said volleyball for men and women has long been played in the Aebersold Student Recreation Center.
In the fall semester, intramural volleyball teams drew 281 participants on 28 teams. The spring features three-on-three volleyball. This spring, 19 teams and more than 100 players are participating.
The competitive teams play for a mug and T-shirts. The recreation teams enjoy a more lax attitude, but get no prizes.
All of the teams play once a week during a five-week season, Rhodes said.
"There's no huge commitment," he said.
Those who play on the school's varsity team aren't permitted to play on the intramural teams because of athletic association rules. That, Rhodes said, means that the competition can be more fun.
SRU uses the rules of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association to govern the game. They are based on the rules developed by USAVolleyball. Games are played to 15 points.
At SRU, there is a variety of volleyball talent, Rhodes said, from those just looking for some fun to former high school stars who don't want to commit to a varsity sport.
The volleyball leagues at SRU have been around for more than 30 years and are the most popular student sports behind flag football and softball, Rhodes said.
"It's a nice indoor sport," Rhodes said of volleyball.
More than 5,000 players participate in the college's intramural sports overall.
At the Butler County Family YMCA in Butler, adults who are members or nonmembers can play either in recreation or competitive leagues.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, people can play pickup games in the gym, according to Jamie Knauff, sport and family director. The volleyball leagues had fallen by the wayside for a while, but now Knauff has teams playing in three-month seasons.
New leagues started in January and another round of leagues is forming now.
During the summer, volleyball players can hit the local sandlots. Five-on-five co-ed leagues play tournament-style at Alameda Park beginning in June through the Butler County Park Department.
