Pick up and play: County parks and rec offers volleyball and softball leagues for fun
BUTLER TWP — Members of the J Hopkins volleyball team called out humorous nicknames to communicate who they were passing the ball to as they volleyed around the court July 14.
Aubree Tack, however, was a little more serious, encouraging the team to close on the last few points they needed to beat their opponent, the Hidden Volley Ranchers.
It was the fifth week of the season, and Tack wanted to add another win to the one they earned a few weeks before, even though it was a game of pickup volleyball in Butler County Parks and Recreation’s coed sand volleyball league.
“It’s pretty lighthearted,” Tack said. “I just wanted to win again.”
Butler County Parks and Rec has hosted a summer volleyball league at Alameda Park for “quite a long time,” according to parks director Lance Welliver. The league allows teams of men and women to participate in organized sports that they may otherwise have to organize themselves.
The program has been successful in the many years it has been offered. Just under 10 teams registered to play in the league this season.
“We’re trying to give an opportunity for people to go out and have fun,” Welliver said. “We do registration, advertise. We have umpires, referees. We do all the scheduling to make sure everything’s running smooth.”
In addition to sand volleyball, Butler County Parks and Recreation offers coed softball in the summer, as well as coed flag football in the fall. The department also organizes a few night disc golf games each year, for which staff members set up a temporary course at Alameda Park that anyone can sign up to play on.
Volleyball and softball have been consistently popular, Welliver said, in part because participants just have to show up to play. To participate, however, people need to register a team of at least four members each.
“They’ll come in and register as a team and it can be up to them,” Welliver said. “All of them require male and female participants — it’s got to be a mix of male and females.”
The volleyball matches themselves are largely up to the players to start and make calls in. The parks and recreation department contracts umpires for its softball league and staffs scorekeepers for volleyball, who are mainly just there to keep score. On July 14, the teams scheduled to play against one another just got on the court a little after the official start time of 5:30 p.m., a player served the ball and the game was on.
“We just start when everyone’s here,” Tack said.
While the volleyball games are played on Monday evenings at Alameda Park, the softball league games take place on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings on Butler County Community College’s campus.
Although these leagues are meant for fun only, Welliver and some of the volleyball players that night said the matches can get a little competitive, especially during playoff weeks.
Mostly, though, the leagues are for fun and recreation.
“We have teams come back year after year,” Welliver said.
The four members of the Hidden Volley Ranchers said they all played volleyball in high school, and the Butler County League offered them a chance to keep in practice with the sport. One of the team’s players, Cael McEwen, still plays volleyball at Grove City College and joked that this summer league was part of his conditioning.
“It’s just a fun thing to do every week,” said Melody Shillito, of the Hidden Volley Ranchers.
She added that she found out about the league this year and recruited a team to try its hand in Butler County for the first time.
The members of J Hopkins are all former classmates — recent graduates of Butler Senior High School who live in the area, at least during the summer. Like the Hidden Volley Ranchers, a few of the J Hopkins team members played volleyball in high school, like Adam Kaufman, who said the pickup summer league is all about the fun.
“It’s really laid back,” Kaufman said. “You can enjoy it a lot more than when you were really serious.”
Another volleyball veteran on the team, Max Gianneski, said although he enjoys playing volleyball and it was a part of his school life, getting a team together for the Alameda Park league was mainly about staying in touch with his friends. Even just a few years removed from high school, he said the league was a good way for him to continue seeing the people he grew up with, even though they largely attend different colleges.
“Even if you don’t get to see your friends much, you can see them once a week,” Gianneski said. “That’s kind of what it’s for.”
Gianneski also said people who are considering signing up for the summer volleyball league should know the courts, which are near the Masonic Shelter at Alameda Park, are deep with sand.
“You get sandy — we all missed getting sandy,” Gianneski said.
For more information on the Butler County Parks and Recreation pickup sports, visit the department’s website at bcpr.recdesk.com.
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Ian Shay, of the team J Hopkins volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Max Gianneski of the team J Hopkins volleyball team, spikes the ball over the net during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Katie Loughry, of the Hidden Volley Ranchers volleyball team, returns a hit during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Cael McEwen from team Hidden Volley Ranchers returns a serve during a sand volleyball game at Alameda Park on Monday, July 14, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Melody Shillito from team Hidden Volley Ranchers returns a hit during a sand volleyball game at Alameda Park on Monday, July 14, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Aubree Tack, of the J Hopkins volleyball team, flexes, after scoring a point during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Ian Shay, of the J Hopkins volleyball team, spikes the ball during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Aubree Tack, of the J Hopkins volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Katie Loughry, of the Hidden Volley Ranchers volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Cael McEwen from team Hidden Volley Ranchers returns a serve during a sand volleyball game at Alameda Park on Monday, July 14, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Robbie Friel, of the J Hopkins volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Aubree Tack of the J Hopkins volleyball team, sets the ball up during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Aubree Tack of the J Hopkins volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Max Gianneski from team J Hopkins spikes the ball over the net during a sand volleyball game at Alameda Park on Monday, July 14, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Cael McEwen of the Hidden Volley Ranchers volleyball team, spikes the ball during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Ian Shay of the J Hopkins volleyball team, spikes the ball during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Ian Shay of the J Hopkins volleyball team, spikes the ball during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Ian Shay, left, and Aubree Tack of the J Hopkins volleyball team, celebrate a point during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Melody Shillito, of the Hidden Volley Ranchers volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Aubree Tack, of the J Hopkins volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Melody Shillito, of the Hidden Volley Ranchers volleyball team, returns a hit during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Katie Loughry, of the Hidden Volley Ranchers volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
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Adam Kaufman, of the J Hopkins volleyball team, returns a serve during a sand volleyball game on Monday, July 14, at Alameda Park. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle.
