Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
SANDY — For years, the pathway in club and high school volleyball has been clear, both in Utah and across the country: earn a scholarship, get an education — and then move on from the sport.
Sure, a handful of players every year signed to play professionally overseas, in Korea, Italy, France, Puerto Rico, and around the world. But a top-flight women's volleyball league in North America never caught hold of the American psyche.
So that's what Jordyn Harvey did, the multisport star at Bountiful High who signed to play volleyball at Stanford. Education was always important in the Harvey household, and the chance to play for the Cardinal was too big to pass up.
But now, a new option could await the 6-foot outside hitter after college: professional opportunities — and back at home.
League One Volleyball, the grassroots-based volleyball organization that plans to launch a professional women's volleyball league in 2024, announced Monday that Salt Lake City will be the home of its fourth franchise. The organization made the formal announcement among over a thousand girls volleyball players during a showcase event at the Mountain America Expo Center, where Harvey was signing autographs and taking photos with the young campers.
"It's really exciting," Harvey said. "Playing at a higher level after college is the goal for all volleyball players is always exciting for all volleyball players. Now that there's a home team here that opens up the pro league for younger players, this could be a potential place to come back and play in my hometown."
Former Utah and BYU outside hitter Madi Robinson recently returned from her first season playing professionally in Sicily, where she listened to Monday's announcement "thinking this thing could get really big."
"Having this huge community finally have a professional league is super exciting," the Lone Peak High graduate said. "We're still so young, and having an opportunity to keep playing in the states is really exciting."
LOVB is excited to announce that we have chosen Salt Lake, Utah as the home to our fourth professional team. Volleyball has taken a stronghold of the InterMountain area, quickly emerging as one of the fastest growing @usavolleyball regions in the country. pic.twitter.com/XaBYL5JxsS
— League One Volleyball (@leagueonevb) June 5, 2023
Salt Lake joins Houston, Atlanta and Madison, Wisconsin as four of the six teams that will launch League One Volleyball for its first season beginning in the fall of 2024, and pro league COO Rosie Spaulding admitted that the area will serve as a regional anchor for the growing league that also counts thousands of club volleyball players nationally under its umbrella, including Club V and Club 801 in Utah, for the single-entity league that also announced the signings of U.S. internationals and gold medal winners Jordan Thompson, Carli Lloyd, Micha Hancock, Lauren Carlini and Jordyn Poulter on Monday.
Additionally, the new team has secured an unannounced deal with a home venue in the Salt Lake Valley and will announce it in the fall when it finalizes an agreement with Club V as its training partner, as well, Spaulding said.
That, plus the immense rise in popularity of volleyball in the state — aided by top-25 programs at BYU and the University of Utah, and propelled further by seven Division I programs from Logan to St. George — made Salt Lake City a natural fit for the league.
"It's one of the fastest growing regions for volleyball in the U.S. right now," said Spaulding, who lives in the Bay Area. "We're deeply connected here through Club V and Club 801, and we know that there is some really strong talent emerging from our clubs."
Club V director Matt Carlson said his organization, which is based in Lindon, has seen a marked uptick in participation and interest since the mid-2000's that corresponded with steep rises in both the BYU men's and women's programs, as well as Utah.
Adding professional opportunities to the mix will only further boost a sport whose popularity has blazed across the country — and Utah is no exception, despite the somewhat surprising lack of a pro league.
"It's shocking, but Utah is a secret hotbed of talent for volleyball," said Carlson, whose club boasts 75 teams across multiple ages throughout the state. "A lot of people don't know the talent here outside of the state; they think of California, Texas, Florida and the midwest. But Utah sends more college athletes per capita than almost any other state.
"The club scene here is still growing, too; it's growing faster than any other state, save maybe one or two."
Initially launched in 2019 around grassroots partnerships from Atlanta to Tempe, Arizona, League One Volleyball — or LOVB (pronounced "love"), for short — plans to start with six teams at launch, all geographically located during a November through April season with a regular season that begins in January.
The league was born out of a desire to provide professional opportunities for American volleyball players after college. More than 400 female athletes head overseas after starring collegiately in one of the NCAA's most popular sports, but a pro league on North American soil has never taken root.
Until now — or that's the hope.
"I think a lot more girls will play pro because some don't want to leave the country," Harvey said. "Now that there's a league here, it can be a bigger thing … I think it's really cool that we have that here now."
The league is scheduled to begin play following the Paris 2024 Olympics with a regular season that runs from January to April, and has currently secured investment from NBA star Kevin Durant, tennis legend Billie Jean King, comedian and actress Chelsea Handler, and Philadelphia 76ers owner (and Real Salt Lake co-owner) David Blitzer in securing a first-round fundraising arm of $16.75 million, according to Bloomberg.
But most important for the single-entity league is the grassroots involvement — a bottom-up approach that they hope builds on the thousands of young Utahns that fall in love with the club game every year, and fuel a rabid collegiate fanbase, as well.
"That's why we're doing it differently," Spaulding said. "That's why we wanted to focus on the grassroots and building that community first. I grew up in Europe, and it's more similar to how sports are organized there; we believe that's the approach that will help us lead the way in the long run."
The league has already signed some top talent as it revealed its first pro teams in Atlanta and Houston, most recently Olympic gold medalists Kelsey Robinson and Justine Wong-Orantes and former Penn State star Haleigh Washington.
But it won't be without competition. In addition to the single-site league run by Athletes Unlimited, The Pro Volleyball Federation plans to begin play in February 2024 with six teams already committed in San Diego, Orlando, Atlanta, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Columbus, Ohio, and Omaha, Nebraska.
The San Diego franchise — the league's first on the west coast — boasts the backing of three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, while Nebraska will be coached by AVCA Hall of Famer Shelton Collier.
But LOVB's approach is different, focused on the grassroots level and building up, rather than the other way around. That has made the time right for the newest pro league in North America.
"I think women's sports, as a whole, are becoming a lot more popular," Harvey said. "Starting these things now with what women's sports are becoming could turn into something really big.
"Club V has done a really good job of getting non-volleyball players like myself to love the sport more, and it's only growing. I think it's good that Utah is becoming one of those feeder states; we're really catching up to states like California and Texas, and preparing us to go and do great things."
More information on LOVB can be found at lovb.com.
