History isn’t only something you study in school. A handful of local high schools are fielding boys' volleyball teams as a club sport, which could make history.
Savannah Classical Academy coach Nick Lavery envisions boys volleyball being sanctioned by the Georgia High School Association in the future, just as girls volleyball and more than 20 other varsity sports are sanctioned today.
“I tell my kids that all the time, ‘You guys will be able to tell that story in 20 years, when boys volleyball is just another sport in Savannah,’ ” Lavery said. “ ‘Well, I was on the very first teams. Let me tell you, we weren’t even sanctioned and we played anyway.’ ”
Lavery, who also coaches the Spartans’ girls' volleyball squad at the small public charter school, called the boys' club team a grassroots effort that started four seasons ago, in spring 2023.
“We started playing a bunch in (physical education class) and it caught on kind of like wildfire with the boys,” Lavery said.
When Islands High girls volleyball coach Jessica Decker, who was starting a boys club team at the same time for the Sharks, sent him an email, it was “perfect timing,” he recalled. The school, with about 70 students in grades 9-12, had about 30 boys come out for the team, including eighth-graders.
Islands High boys volleyball player Jaden Ta competes during a match. Photo courtesy of Islands High Volleyball.
Islands and SCA were joined by New Hampstead for three years but are not active this spring, said Decker, who creates schedules for the local teams. Beach High came on board in 2025. Glynn Academy is another Southeast Georgia school on the schedule.
Woodville-Tompkins girls volleyball coach Kacey Matthews said there has been interest in fielding a boys team for a couple of years, but she was coaching Wolverines track and field each spring, and the schedule was too congested. This year, she went all-in on boys' volleyball, and about 30 boys tried out, with 15 making the team.
The Coastal Velocity Volleyball Club, a five-team public school club, joined the Coastal Region of Boys Volleyball of Georgia, which oversees 48 high school squads. The Ospreys were created this academic year for boys who are homeschooled, as well as others attending schools without the sport in Chatham, Bryan, and Effingham counties.
Members of the Coastal Velocity Volleyball Club high school team pose for a photo. Photo courtesy of Coastal Velocity.
This year’s team, which is all homeschoolers, has nine on varsity and six on the middle school squad. The impetus for the team came from head coach/club director Samantha Krick’s sons, Jayden, a senior, and Ryder, a freshman.
“I’m trying to get opportunities for the boys to play as much volleyball as they can,” said Krick, whose Ospreys played a limited fall season against South Carolina teams. “They got bit by the volleyball bug. They absolutely love it. They have so much fun out there. Let’s do it and see where it takes us.”
Jayden Krick has already signed to play college volleyball at Penn State Schuylkill next fall – the family is originally from that region.
All of the club teams, without sanctioning as a school varsity sport, have had to be creative over the years when tackling issues such as funding, scheduling, equipment, officiating, and transportation. Coastal Velocity also doesn’t have a home gymnasium. The varsity practices at One Savior Church in Guyton, and the middle school practices at First Baptist Church in Richmond Hill.
Samantha Krick is thankful to the churches for providing facilities when gym space is at a premium at area recreation centers and the like. She’s also thankful that when the Ospreys were the designated home team for matches this spring, other schools stepped up.
“Both Beach and Islands have been very gracious to open their doors for us to be able to host the match,” Samantha Krick said. “It’s been really cool to see all of these schools come together for the volleyball community. It shows that we’re all working toward the same thing.”
The 2026 spring season concludes on Saturday, May 9, with the Boys Volleyball of Georgia state tournament at A5 Sportsplex in Roswell. There are Open, A, and B divisions. Islands, after reaching the semifinals the last two years, entered the B Division for newer programs, Decker said.
Photo by MJ Vincent: Woodville-Tompkins’ JaQuan Jones goes up for a hit during a boys volleyball match.
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