Monrovia Girls Volleyball coach propose Outdoor Volleyball League

With the state of California slowly reopening up to allow high school sports to resume, namely outdoor sports such as football and water polo, other sports such as girls' volleyball feels left out.

Girls volleyball, along with other indoor sports such as basketball and wrestling falls under the yellow tier which requires the state to maintain a level of 2 percent positivity rate in order to participate. However, that may not happen this season.

“There was a period I went from literally crying knowing what could be in front of my girls,” Monrovia girls volleyball coach John Van Deventer said. “Then I got angry, and then I said (to myself), ‘That’s it, I’ve got to do something.’ That all happened in an hour and a hour.

Van Deventer wanted to give his girls the experience of a volleyball season, as well as a way to participate safely. He contacted several local area coaches including Northview's Melissa Baker who are all-in on this endeavor.

The result is the inagural "2021 San Gabriel Valley Grass League."

Eight teams - Covina, Ganesha, Monrovia, Northview, San Marino South Hills and Whittier Christians comprise of the new proposed league.

Volleyball is a season 1 sport and have until April to conclude and will not have a playoffs.

“Our main focus is to do something for our girls,” said Van Deventer who previously coached at St Paul and turned the program into an area powerhouse. “More to the point, let’s do something for our seniors. We hear it all the time that ‘at least the girls have club (volleyball),’ but not all of them have club. The high school experience is a wonderful thing that a lot of people don’t get unless you play in high school.”

All games start at 3pm, except for San Marino v Monrovia which will be contested at 3:30 pm. The teams will play in a round-robin format culminating in the championship match on March 19.

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The games will be played outdoors on regulation sized courts, with officials to give it true volleyball vibes. In addition, guidelines such as masks, no side changing, and limited to no fans are still being followed.

Monrovia girls volleyball set up a facebook account and will livestream Tuesday's match.

“We know everyone will be watching because its outdoors,” Van Deventer said. “We want to prove that it’s safe and very doable.”