As part of promoting recreational activities at Putnam County High School (PCHS) and encouraging physical activities that benefit the mental and physical health of students, the boys volleyball club was created early this year for male students with an interest and passion for the sport.
The volleyball club is now part of Boys Volleyball of Georgia (BVG), a foundation that brings together statewide volleyball clubs.
As a member of the Metro Atlanta Eastern Region within this group, the PCHS team can participate with other nearby clubs, including those in Apalachee, Loganville, Morgan and Newton counties. As a new club, PCHS is currently a Category B entry.
Accessibility for youth male volleyball is relatively small, but over the years BVG has been able to promote and create resources for the sport.
In 2013, a handful of schools participated in a state tournament for boys’ volleyball and since that time, the sport has been growing at the grassroots level.
In 2019, the Boys Volleyball of Georgia Foundation was created to help support the sport’s growth and the foundation continues to work toward attaining GHSA status for the sport as soon as possible.
The PCHS Boys Volleyball Club includes students from different grades within the school and meets after school to play, learn and improve on the fundamentals of volleyball.
The club is directed by Francisco Aguirre Arancibia, a big advocate for all sports being accessible to students. He is the head coach of PCHS varsity volleyball for girls and helped build a middle school volleyball program prior to getting involved in the new boys’ club.
“It has not been an easy process; it has had to go through different stages for the approval of the opening of the club,” Aguirre Arancibia said. “Then there’s the process of looking for the players, the process of contacting the other clubs. The club started from zero.”
The PCHS boys’ volleyball club has received sponsorship from Crossroads Baptist Church for the preparation of uniforms and warmup jerseys the players currently use, and club members also made donations to obtain everything necessary to begin play in scheduled matches.
So far, the new club has played games against Morgan County, Houston County and Newton, and in the Spring Slam Tournament held last week at Harrison High School.
The PCHS boys are now preparing to participate in the state tournament on May 6, at the Tsunami Center in Forest Park, near Atlanta.