Happy Juneteenth and Happy Father’s Day
We are getting prepared to launch a full two weeks of previews and coverage for our 15-17s as they take on AAU and USAV Nationals. It is one of the most exciting times of the year for junior volleyball players.…
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Continue ReadingWe are getting prepared to launch a full two weeks of previews and coverage for our 15-17s as they take on AAU and USAV Nationals. It is one of the most exciting times of the year for junior volleyball players. Before we get to that starting tomorrow, we want to take a quick minute to highlight a couple of things.
First, Happy Juneteenth! This day became a National Holiday last year and was a long time coming. June 19, 1865, was when many of the slaves in Texas were notified of their freedom. From Juneteenth to the Black Codes to Jim Crow Laws, blacks in America have and continue to overcome many obstacles and challenges in our country.
I mention this because it excites me to continue to see the rise of African-American girls in the sport we all love. I’ve been in gyms for only the last decade, but to see where the numbers are now compared to years ago it’s a positive sign. As we know, it’s not a cheap sport to take on so kudos to the clubs and sponsors who continue to provide opportunity and make it an equitable activity to participate in for young black girls. There was a time when I remember walking through a convention center and the few fathers I saw would make eye contact with me and give the “head nod” that black men give in a space where it’s not many of us. We still give the nod, but there are many more of them today than when my daughter started playing in 2015.
And speaking of dads, Happy Father’s Day to the amazing Volleyball Dad’s out there in the Prep Dig world. We see you standing behind the camera at the end line. We see you with the over-exaggerated fist pump and celebration. We see you running to grab that smoothie in between a back-to-back match. There are many great dads out there but I want to shout out one today. We talk here and there about Dynasty 16 Black libero Ryan McAleer Ryan McAleer 5'5" | DS/L Blue Valley | 2024 State #29 Nation KS . She is one of the premier players at that position in her class in the country.
Today we are going to talk about her dad Thom McAleer (@TMackKC on Twitter). While he isn’t the only dad doing this, he does it at an extreme level. He goes out of his way to shout out so many players and clubs across the country on his feed. When a player posts an accomplishment or a highlight video he is retweeting it and talking about it. When I or one of my colleagues are asking what players should we be looking out for, he will shout out girls from clubs that are competitors. When we ask what teams should be considered the top teams, he will toss some teams out. Of course, he also shouts his daughter out but he doesn’t make it all about her and that’s what caught my attention. He is daughter/team 1A and other players’ 1B praise offering type of dad…and we love it. So on this father’s day, we salute Thom as a volleyball dad and encourage others to follow this path, and let’s highlight all the young ladies playing this wonderful sport as often as we can.