08/29/2026
When the Madison East Girls Volleyball team heard there was an opportunity to make the sport they love more accessible to young girls in their community, they were eager to help.
The team joined members of the League One Volleyball Foundation for a three-day volleyball clinic at their school's gym, where dozens of volleyball newcomers learned to serve, set, bump and work as a team.
“I wish I would have started sooner,” said East High School senior Tatum. “So to help kids get that opportunity that can really set them apart in the future is something I want to be a part of.”
East Girls Volleyball Head Coach Franco Marcos said the team has hosted a few clinics of their own and that they’re always looking for ways to get their programs into different communities. So for Marcos, the collaboration was a no-brainer.
The LOVB Foundation is the charitable arm of League One Volleyball, which aims to help young people facing barriers access the sport and the opportunities that come with it through financial aid and community connections.
“This is what community building is all about,” Marcos said of the partnership. “We’re really really happy to see that our athletes are involved in helping out.”
He also said he and Assistant Coach Samantha Nelson identified several different pockets where they knew interest in the sport didn’t align with the opportunities available.
“For East we’ve always had a wonderful community focus – with volleyball it seems like there’s always just been maybe a slight disconnect,” Nelson shared. “There are just so many kids that I knew if they had the opportunity to play volleyball they’d probably love it.”
To help bridge the gap, Nelson reached out to several community centers, including Centro Hispano, Boys and Girls Club, Northport Community Learning Center, and Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, to get the word out.
That outreach worked O'Keeffe Middle School students Yasmine and Alexia were among more than 100 MMSD community kids who participated in the clinic.
“I just really liked it,” Yasmine said. “The coaches are really nice, and they’re patient with the kids.”
The pair shared that they were not only happy to learn from adult coaches like LOVB Pro team head coach Fernando Morales but were inspired by the high school-age coaches as well..
“It’s really nice and it’s really helpful,” Alexia said. “To hear from coaches more near our age, I think they can just relate to us a little bit more.”
It’s a responsibility to serve the younger MMSD student population that East High School senior Abby and junior Reese don’t take lightly.
“Seeing the growth of all these little kids is something that I very much, very much enjoy,” Abby said.
“It’s been awesome,” Reese said. “We’ve not only been teaching them but they’ve been teaching us how to be leaders and just really working together.”
Morales believes it’s a great time for more kids to get involved, as the popularity of women’s volleyball and athlete participation in the sport are rapidly growing.
“In five, 10 years it might be the biggest sport, especially on the women’s side,” Morales said. “So getting the sport to the communities that cannot see them right now or don’t get to contact them right now, it is very important.”
