The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) last week announced that boys’ volleyball will be added as a state-sanctioned sport starting in Spring 2026. The initial start-up of the sport included four teams in West Michigan, spearheaded by volunteers and passionate coaches.
According to The Spartan News Room, one of the key leaders was Jason Heerema, athletic director of Grand Rapids Christian.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) last week announced that boys’ volleyball will be added as a state-sanctioned sport starting in Spring 2026. The initial start-up of the sport included four teams in West Michigan, spearheaded by volunteers and passionate coaches.
According to The Spartan News Room, one of the key leaders was Jason Heerema, athletic director of Grand Rapids Christian.
“It was always weird to me that Michigan didn’t have boys high school volleyball,” Heerma said. “I’d always been interested in getting it going.”
Heerma laid the groundwork from day one with the intention of making boys’ volleyball a state-sanctioned sport. Heerma and Aaron Wedge, head boys’ volleyball coach at Hudsonville High School, worked with the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association to finalize their vision.
“We started with four schools, then it just kept building up until this point, where we’ve nearly eclipsed 100 schools in just eight years,” Heerema said.
At Hudsonville High in particular, Wedge stepped in to kick-start the program, but fell in love with the game. Now, several years later, Hudsonville has three boys’ volleyball teams: a varsity team and two junior varsity teams.
As an official MHSAA sport, boys’ volleyball will gain legitimacy and much-needed assistance with rules and scheduling. One coach told The Spartan News Room, “the support, organization, funding and more consistent regulations the MHSAA provides are really good for boys’ volleyball.”
“It’s hard to relate to people the amount of work that went into this,” Heerema said. “In the end, I’ll look back on it and say that was pretty special. I think in 10 to 15 years, I can look back and say this was a good thing we did — allowing kids this opportunity to play.”
The current boys’ volleyball season will continue and finish as a club sport, and next spring will mark its start as an official MHSAA-sanctioned sport.
