Cassidy Lichtman: We’re not there but … the largest volleyball push is but to return

Former Stanford All-American and USA national-team participant Cassidy Lichtman has an in depth volleyball resume. She performed professionally for 5 years in Poland, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, France and China, and is on the USA Volleyball board of administrators, Lichtman was additionally an assistant coach at Stanford when the Cardinal received the 2016 NCAA championship. She performed within the first two Athletes Limitless volleyball seasons and is now the AU director of volleyball. We requested her to put in writing in regards to the unbelievable upward trajectory that our sport is on and what she thinks the longer term holds:

By Cassidy Lichtman for VolleyballMag.com

I’ve spent my complete life within the volleyball world and there’s no doubt that the momentum behind the game is at an all time excessive. We’re about to enter the largest postseason ever in school volleyball, a number of skilled leagues have developed and the youth aspect continues to develop at spectacular charges.

And even with all of that exercise, we’re not there but.

The hole between volleyball’s recognition and its visibility is wider than every other sport. We aren’t trending like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese or displaying up on SportsCenter often. We’ve constructed a large silo however have but to interrupt out of it into the mainstream sports activities dialog.

So let’s check out the place we’ve been and the place we will go subsequent.

Anybody who has stepped right into a conference heart for a membership volleyball event shouldn’t be stunned by the surging recognition of the game. At a time when youth sports activities participation is dropping, volleyball’s numbers proceed to rise. After passing soccer and basketball years in the past as the largest group sport for ladies in highschool, volleyball is the one sport within the high ten at the highschool stage that has continued to develop in recent times. USA Volleyball noticed a progress in membership of just about 10 p.c within the 2022-2023 season, which was the biggest proportion progress in 25 years.

Possibly the largest growth for volleyball over the past decade has been the emergence of the convention networks. For the primary time audiences have had entry to volleyball on TV, which is probably going essentially the most vital consider how we’re capable of develop the sport.

It’s actually exhausting to be a fan of one thing you may’t see.

The viewers progress on the Large Ten Community and on the ESPN household of convention networks has introduced goal proof that individuals wish to watch volleyball. Common-season matches this NCAA season airing often on ESPN’s foremost channel and for the primary time ever on Fox tells us that the networks are paying consideration.

The in-venue audiences are additionally multiplying yr after yr. The place it was solely Nebraska and Hawaii who might fill a stadium, we now have packed homes and document turnouts across the nation.

There are a number of probably the reason why we’re seeing this now. It might be due partly to that progress in youth participation which has surged properly past the regional mainstays like California and Texas. It additionally in all probability takes at the very least a technology to construct a fanbase and Title IX solely handed 51 years in the past. We haven’t had the advantage of the boys’s aspect of the game increase its recognition and cultural resonance like we’ve seen in sports activities like basketball and soccer. Our viewers needed to develop organically and as we get to the second and third generations of volleyball gamers, extra youngsters are rising up with it as a standard a part of their lives.

Lastly, skilled volleyball has arrived.

Three years in the past Athletes Limitless introduced professional volleyball again to the US for the primary time in over 30 years and introduced it again in a giant method. AU had a number of nationwide tv companions from the beginning and broadcast each match on both TV or streaming platforms, making professional volleyball accessible to followers. The roster included world-class expertise like Jordan Larson, Bethania De La Cruz and Sheilla Castro.

And large companions like Nike and Gatorade jumped in immediately.

Now, three seasons later, among the high expertise popping out of the NCAA pipeline has the choice to remain house. The identical gamers who you’ve gotten watched dominate within the ultimate 4 and rack up All-American awards —  Kentucky’s Leah Edmond and Alli Stumler Linnehan, Wisconsin’s Sydney Hilley and Danielle Hart, Louisville’s Claire Chaussee, Stanford’s Morgan Hentz — now you can watch proceed their volleyball careers as professionals. With the event of latest leagues Professional Volleyball Federation (PVF) and League One Volleyball (LOVB) we’re starting to construct a strong skilled presence within the USA for the primary time.

So with all of that mentioned, what do we want with the intention to proceed this progress and actually escape as a mainstream sport?

We want additional visibility and funding by new companions.

Our media presence should proceed to develop.

ESPN, Fox and the convention networks must maintain elevating the game. It’s not solely about what channels we’re on, however the time slots, the exhibits main in and the way they market us. NCAA matches are getting elevated alternatives and Athletes Limitless’s third season marked the primary time professional volleyball was proven on ESPN’s platforms, however there’s nonetheless work to be executed. There’s a big media ecosystem that serves males’s sports activities. If volleyball is outperforming given a fraction of that focus and alternative, think about what we might do with true publicity.

The subsequent step past that’s companions and sponsors recognizing the worth and placing {dollars} behind it. We’ve a contingent of constant companions who’re endemic to the game, like ball, tools or flooring firms, however seeing companions come from outdoors of volleyball to help in any respect ranges is vital as properly.

Which means all types of firms, from banks and shops to airways and auto producers. There are lots of people speaking about ladies’s sports activities proper now however not lots of people placing their cash the place their mouth is.

Merely put, the forward-thinking firms want to acknowledge that volleyball is the following large sport and get in on the bottom ground.

We additionally want the present volleyball viewers to embrace skilled volleyball. Watching Athletes Limitless this fall, there isn’t any doubt in my thoughts that the identical followers who’re enthralled by the NCAA event will fall in love with the professional model. These are the all-stars of the all-stars and they’re competing with playoff depth each evening. I’ve performed on the highest stage around the globe and this league is as entertaining as any professional league on the market. As we construct the expertise pipeline and see school stars transition to the professionals, hopefully these fanbases proceed to help and comply with them so extra followers can get publicity to the professional stage. We will have an enormous viewers for school volleyball however there aren’t any mainstream sports activities that do not need a strong skilled presence.

Lastly, we must be collaborative.

The expansion of volleyball helps us all and must be celebrated. Final spring Athletes Limitless took a gaggle of professionals on a tour to play exhibitions at 9 high school applications and it was unbelievable to see the school applications embrace the partnership enthusiastically. This season at AU we had visits from coaches and leaders from each PVF and LOVB. On the upcoming AVCA conference subsequent month in Tampa we’ll have illustration from USA Volleyball and all three professional leagues. We want all of our organizations, applications and the individuals who have come by our sport and gone on to work outdoors of it. All of us have our personal agendas and root for our personal groups however we have to accomplice and construct collectively as properly. In relation to the expansion of the sport we must always all look to construct one another up.

Momentum and massive moments are to be celebrated, however the largest push is but to return. I can’t wait till volleyball is cemented into mainstream tradition and conversations and it’s going to take all of our collective efforts to get there. 

A yr in the past, Cassidy Lichtman was named by Adweek as one of the vital highly effective ladies in sports activities.