Cameron Buonocore ’20
For years, Episcopal’s lack of a volleyball team has been the subject of debate within the community. Many students are advocating for the sport to be added to the fall roster in order to highlight potential star athletes and add another sport to the EA/AIS day competition.
Gina Buggy, Director of Athletics, explains: “For the number of students we have in the Upper School and the number of varsity sports we currently offer, it would be difficult to add another varsity program, especially one which competes in the fall where we already have 5 varsity girls’ programs.” As EA is a fairly small private school, it lacks the student interest other public and some private schools obtain that are essential for new programs to thrive.
Head of the Upper School, Mr.Letts, also voices a valid concern: “I’m not saying that if there’s an interest we shouldn’t explore it, but we have to make a balanced, calculated decision. How many kids are going to get pulled from the other teams?” In order to have successful teams, it is essential to have maximum participation and adding another team would force a wider distribution of female students in the fall. On the other hand, there are girls’ teams with copious rosters. The field hockey team, for example, has an astonishing total of fifty-three players. The team is overflowing with athletes to the point where there is a roster of girls who just travel to away Junior Varsity games. The creation of a volleyball team could potentially be a great opportunity to introduce another option to accommodate the surplus of students.
Furthermore, the implementation of volleyball would allow non Inter-Ac fall athletes the opportunity to join another team. One such person being Belle Volatile ‘20 who said, “Since I do fitness in the fall, I miss out on being part of a team on EA/HAV/AIS day, and I think if volleyball had started earlier, it could have given me and many others who feel the same way the opportunity to participate in such an iconic part of high school.” Every school in the Inter-Ac, with the exception of EA and Penn Charter, has a volleyball team. Many students have a genuine passion for Volleyball, yet are unable to pursue the sport due to the lack of a team.
According to Coach Buggy each year the school is bombarded with an influx of athletic requests. “Girls’ Volleyball, Girls’ Ice Hockey, and Bowling are some of the popular recommendations we receive. We evaluate the athletic program every year and we look carefully at all of our varsity programs to ensure we are providing the necessary support and to be sure that our student-athletes have a variety of interscholastic athletic options available to them.”
While the addition of volleyball to the fall sport roster has its complications, it would provide another opportunity for EA students to participate in a competitive sport and possibly discover untapped athleticism.