Boys’ volleyball is a rare sport to see in Minnesota, but Minnetonka High School has just introduced it as a select sport. Community Education had a club team, but the high school program is more accessible. Tyler Flom, ‘25, captain of the high school team, explains that the club team had been running for about six years, and he has been interested since the summer of eighth grade. Flom helped advocate for the induction of boy’s volleyball as a sport at the high school, and his efforts were successful with the help of coach Karl Katzenberger, who also coaches the girl’s volleyball team. Flom says that “there were a lot of people who played or signed up. People asked their friends if they wanted to play or just had lots of connections to get people interested.” Enough people tried out that there are two teams, Varsity and JV.

In past years, the school struggled to get it started because, according to Flom, “it’s just been thought that volleyball is a girl sport, not a guy sport, and that guys should play football or baseball instead.” Looking past the stereotypes, the level that they are able to play at is not limited by gender. “We always have fun and we can get on each other’s level quickly and understand each other,” says Flom. Despite the fact that MHS’s fishing team has been around longer than boys’ volleyball, it’s still smaller, with just eight members. Competitions are judged by the weight of the bass, with each team catching two catches in a time frame of seven hours, from 7 am to 2 pm. The winner is whichever team catches the most total weight, which is recorded on an app that tracks the rankings of all teams.

Teams fish all across Minnesota, and members often qualify for nationals, thus having the chance to win scholarships. Sierra Gray, ‘28, has been fishing her whole life and has been a part of the team for the past four years. “I like to spend a lot of my summer on the lake [because] I really enjoy [fishing],” she says. For Gray, the fishing team has improved her level of patience and communication skills. She explains that patience is a necessity because a lot of time and effort goes into these trips, so bad fishing days can be really frustrating.

“Towing a boat, getting your stuff ready, it’s a lot of work—if you’re not patient, you’re not gonna do well.” Communication is also important because you’re on the open water with only one other person. Gray says, “[having] a partner in your boat if you’re having a bad day of fishing can contribute a lot [to your success].” She encourages everyone to join and experience the community because the tournaments aren’t mandatory, meaning the commitment level is low. Both of these are spring sports, with fishing continuing into the summer, so there will be volleyball games and fishing competitions going on for the next few months.