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Glen Lietzke's (back row far right) first club team was made up of seniors, juniors, freshmen and eighth graders. Now Austin Juniors has one of the premier clubs in the nation, qualifying 18s Navy (photo above) and six other teams for the national championships that begin this week in Atlanta.

In The Beginning...

cross country road trips, sleeping on floors and other memories of the "good old days" of club volleyball

June 23 – Almost 70 teams representing 29 clubs from Texas will travel to Atlanta beginning this week for the USA Junior Olympic Girls' Volleyball Championships. Most players and parents have come to expect the Lone Star State to be well represented at the JOs. Arthur Stanfield, Glen Lietzke and Mitch Casteel know that hasn't always been the case.

In the early days of club, Arthur Stanfield's teams often rode in a van to matches in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Stanfield is founder of Mid-Cities and a coach with Texas Advantage (he also happens to coach defending 4A champion Red Oak). Lietzke is founder and director of Austin Juniors and coaches the top 18s team. Casteel is former coach at Baylor and current club director for Houston Juniors. All three were there, 20 years ago, when girls club teams were being formed for the first time in Texas. They remember that things were very different. How different?

- How about paying less than $500 to play club ball...
- Or eight players, one coach and one boyfriend driving non-stop in a van to Los Angeles to play in a tournament...
- Or sharing rooms with other teams and sleeping on the floor to save money...
- Or showing up at a national tournament and seeing one of the officials at check-in sitting beside a cooler of beer...
- Or having spectators at the national championships removed because it was too hot in the gym...
- Or watching players from the opposing team arrive toting babies and pushing children in strollers...
- Or coaches not being allowed in the gym during warm-ups and high school players not being allowed to practice for fear of violating UIL rules.

A lot of people played a role in launching girls club volleyball in Texas during the early 1980s. Mark Papich, Becky Hughes, Mike and Ann Inlow, Scott Mayhew and, of course, Gool Castleberry, who founded Alamo in 1983 are just a few of the pioneers mentioned most frequently. So with the JOs right around the corner, we asked three "old-timers" to share their thoughts on how the sport has grown over the past two decades.

“I’ve been blown away by it,” said Casteel. “I knew we were on the crest of a wave, but I don’t think any of us had any idea just how big that wave was. Back then if you had two kids on your high school team that played club you had a state powerhouse. Now some high schools will have 50 kids at tryouts and 45 play club. I don’t think any of us ever thought it would get so large.”

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome in those early years was the University Interscholastic League. Until the UIL was forced to change its rules governing camps and other summer athletic activities, it was difficult for girls -- and their coaches -- who wanted to participate in club.

“Players who had returning high school eligibility couldn't practice, they could only play in matches,” said Stanfield. “Warming up was legal, though, so some clubs used their warm ups as practice time. Some people probably warmed up more than they played. “

“My first team was a combination of something like two seniors, a junior, two ninth graders and two eighth graders,” adds Lietzke. “We didn’t travel outside of Austin and San Antonio with the exception of the odd trip to Houston. You could only have so many players from the same high school team and coaches couldn't coach in practice, only in games,”

“It was comical at times," added Casteel. "We had situations where the coaches couldn't be in the gym during warm-ups. They would come back into the gym after warm-ups to coach the match. Getting through the UIL stuff was one of the toughest things we had to overcome.”

Convincing high school coaches to let their girls play was another challenge.

“Some coaches were happy that their girls were getting more playing experience and some were not,” said Casteel. “Some of them seemed threatened. It meant they had to work harder because the girls were working with top coaches in club and getting a high level of training. We fought with a lot of coaches on technique and playing time."

Another big difference was travel. Today, the top Texas club teams regularly fly cross-country to national events and stay in nice hotels. Not so in the beginning.

“We drove almost every where we went,” said Stanfield. “I've driven to Chicago three times, Tampa Bay, Los Angles, Albuquerque, Kansas City, St. Paul and New Orleans.”

Players from several teams often stayed together to save money. Sleeping on the floor was normal.

“The first major tournament I coached was AAU's in Illinois in 1984,” Stanfield continued. “I took seven girls in a van. Six of the kids flew home or drove home with their parents. That left me and one player for the 18-hour drive home. On one trip to Los Angeles it was me, eight girls and a boyfriend in one van. We made the trip without any stops on the way there or back.”

“Since we didn’t travel nearly as much as now, our girls were in awe every time we got to see a California or a Chicago team,” said Casteel. "It wasn't that we couldn't compete with them. It was just that the girls had heard so much about these teams it was something special when you had a chance to play them."

Today’s major tournaments are held in clean, air-conditioned convention centers against opponents that are familiar from years of club play. In the beginning, however, the location and the opponent was often pot luck.

“We played at the Salvation Army in downtown Houston once and the girls were afraid to go in there,” said Casteel. "And since there weren't a lot of club teams, we played a lot of women's teams. I remember the kids watching the other teams show up and there would be moms with their strollers, setting out blankets for their kids. Our girls would be laughing and then they would get pounded because those moms would be using roll shots and things our girls hadn’t seen. It gave the girls a much better respect for the older players.”

Even the national championships have changed.

“The first USA National tournament I attended was in 1985 in St. Joseph,” said Stanfield. “One of the guys checking in the teams had his cooler of beer right behind his table. That year it was so hot at nationals that they made all of the spectators leave the gym and the kids played without anyone watching.”

“I have fond memories of those early national championships,” said Casteel. “It was always played on a college campus and the boys and girls played at the same time and location. The kids got to stay in the dorms. It was great because the girls were starting to get recognition."

Looking back, Lietzke, Stanfield and Casteel admit they are surprised by the growth of the sport.

“I don’t think any of us ever envisioned 700 teams at a tournament and playing in convention centers,” said Lietzke. “I think we only had 30 teams at our first tournament and we had to play at the high schools. Two things really helped grow the sport – hosting the Junior Olympics in Texas grew the sport and adding age groups. Once we went to single age groups and then open and club divisions that was a big factor.”

"The first year I think the club had three teams and two went to nationals," said Casteel. "It grew to the point where we had 300 girls being evaluated in one day at tryouts. And now we have 330 teams for our 'little' Cross Court tournament. It's incredible.”

Yet despite the prosperity, there are concerns about the future.

”It cost maybe $300 - $500 to play in those early years,” said Stanfield. “Coaches all did it for free. It is nice that we have so many volleyball facilities to play in now and our major tournaments are usually under one roof. The one big issue I have with juniors right now is the number of people who make a living off club. I think we are pricing an entire group of young ladies right out of playing big time junior volleyball. I wish we could somehow develop major sponsorships to help defray the cost.”

“We’ve got to keep cost the of sport reasonable,” said Lietzke. “It’s getting too expensive for some of the kids. Kids just need the opportunity to play. That’s the key. The high schools are closing up in summers because of budgets so it will be important to find opportunities for kids to play volleyball whether it’s club or pick up games or whatever. They just need the chance to play.”

So what's next? Where does it all go from here?

“I have no idea,” says Casteel. “It’s been amazing to watch the sport develop. I think that’s why people like me and Arthur and Glen keep hanging around. We just want to see where it all ends up.”