Boys volleyball will spike ‘sense of belonging’ for many Asian students in Minnesota

Editor’s note: This story is part of a three-story package from the Star Tribune on how cultural change is reshaping Minnesota high school sports. Please also read our story today that looks at sports across Minnesota, and coming Friday is a deep look at high school hockey in our state. Thank you for reading.

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The snowy weather outside St. Paul Como Park High School on a recent Friday afternoon brought a chill. Inside, though, the food was warm and the energy stirring.

About 40 boys and girls sat near the gymnasium, visiting and laughing. Lined along one wall were tables with pots simmering. The mood was a mix of relaxed excitement and anticipation.

The main reason for the after-school hubbub could be found inside the gym: About 15 boys were smacking volleyballs around, conducting the first official captains practice in preparation for Minnesota’s debut season of MSHSL-sanctioned boys volleyball.

Como Park High, on St. Paul’s north side, is among the city’s most diverse high schools, with students of color making up more than 80% of the enrollment. Asian and Black are the largest groups, each about 31% of the student body.

The first boys volleyball season’s official start date of March 17 is less than three weeks away. The Minnesota State High School League’s website has 91 teams listed, up from 81 teams registered in 2024, when it was still a club-level sport.

To Como Park’s Asian students, along with students of Asian descent across the state, the elevation of boys volleyball was more than just a new opportunity. For many, it was an indicator that they, indeed, belong in high school sports.

“Volleyball is a staple of the Asian culture,” Como Park athletic director Koua Yang said. “It’s a sport they play in church leagues and outdoors. Their parents played it.

“When it passed, I had kids tell me, ‘Finally, a sport I connect with.’ ”

Communities and schools are changing across Minnesota, creating wide-ranging changes in sports participation. While some sports scramble to fill rosters, others surge in popularity with new populations. If any sport can claim a spike in demand, it’s boys volleyball.

An immensely popular sport in Southeast Asia, on par with soccer, volleyball is played often at family gatherings and community festivals, and many churches have male volleyball teams.

Volleyball is the No. 1 team sport for girls participation in America and in Minnesota. Twenty-nine states reported varsity boys volleyball participation in the 2023-24 school year, according to National Federation of State High School Associations data.

The door began to open for Minnesota boys in 2017 when local volleyball legend Walt Weaver and then-Gophers coach Hugh McCutcheon decided to press for it. Local coaches and parents Jenny Kilkelly and Krista Flemming picked up the momentum and created a boys club league. Six years of sweat equity and scores of disappointments later, the MSHSL approved it in 2023.

What drove the boys club league was its broad and diverse appeal. As part of its sales pitch to the MSHSL, the Minnesota Boys Volleyball Coaches Association presented the demographics of the sport. Two numbers stood out. First, there were 2,381 players in 2024, 405 more than in any previous year. Popularity was rising. The second number jumped off the page: Almost half of the players, 1,019, were Asian.

Traditional prep sports pursuits, such as hockey, football and baseball, held little appeal for some Asian students, as they hadn’t grown up with them. In volleyball, there was passion.

Yang and his parents immigrated to Minnesota when he was very young. A member of the Hmong community, Yang experienced firsthand the difficulties of acclimating to a new country and unfamiliar sports.

“When I first came here, the kids that did play sports kind of gravitated towards sports they knew, like soccer and wrestling,” Yang said. “And there was a socioeconomic angle, too. They played these sports because they were cheap.”

On the Friday of the first captains practice, three conspicuous young men sat at a round table outside the Como Park gym doors. They were the first boys volleyball coaches hired by the school. MSHSL rules didn’t allow them to take part in the practice, or even spend much time watching. But that wasn’t why they were there.

All three — head coach Pwe Ku and B squad and JV coaches Pa Reh and Baw Reh — were showing support for the team. All three are Karen immigrants from Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand. St. Paul has the largest Karen community in the United States, estimated to be over 20,000.

Most Karen and their kindred ethnic cousins, the Karenni, moved here to escape oppression in Myanmar. Sports are more than just recreation for these immigrants, said Eh Tah Khu, co-executive director of the Karen Organization of Minnesota, an agency founded by Karen refugees that offers support and programs for refugees. Sports keep parts of their culture alive.

“We all suffered the same oppression and war trauma from the military regimes,” he said. “Volleyball helps us feel a sense of belonging in the school and brings us all together.”

Volleyball and its cousin, caneball, or chinlone, in which players have to keep a woven ball in the air with just their feet, knees and head, are wildly popular within their culture.

Baw Reh was one of the club team’s top players at Como Park. He graduated last year. He grew up in a volleyball-mad household, his father his volleyball mentor. When word spread that Como Park was seeking coaches, he pounced.

“My father was so excited to teach and coach me,” he said. “I want to give the same things back to the players on this team.”

As the practice wore down, the hall outside began to fill up, with players, friends and other students. All joined the food line — a meal is an integral part of any volleyball get-together — and then sat down to laugh and talk about their upcoming MSHSL season.

“We’ll get to all ride to matches together, not find our own rides,” gushed junior Po Soe, a team veteran, referring to his club team experience, which was not funded by the school. “We’ll get new uniforms. And it won’t cost so much. Some people had to pay a lot of money last year.”

While much swirls around the first sanctioned season, there is still the matter of trying to win matches. All three coaches are new, and the team lost 10 seniors from last year’s club team to graduation.

“It might take a little while to come together,” head coach Pwe Ku said, acknowledging his team will need to make up for a lack of height with hustle. “We’ll have to play good defense.”

“And keep the ball in the air,” said assistant coach Pa Reh. He then added an observation that sounded remarkably like caneball. “The other team can’t score if the ball doesn’t hit the ground.”