Men’s volleyball is one of Franklin’s least recognized but most successful sports. While Franklin sports have won only seven state championships total — the least of any school in the 6A league — our school-associated club sports, such as men’s volleyball, regularly excel.
Last year, Franklin’s men’s volleyball club team played undefeated until state championships, where they placed third, which is the highest a Franklin team has placed since men’s cross country won the Oregon Schools Activities Association (OSAA) state championships in the fall of 2023.
Despite this marked success, men’s volleyball is not an official sport at Franklin, nor anywhere in Portland Public Schools (PPS). In previous years, men’s volleyball has been operated as a club sport, meaning that it did not receive any funding from Franklin or the Portland Interscholastic League (PIL). PIL facilitates the majority of middle and high school sports across the Portland metro area, including all school-sanctioned sports for PPS. “‘Club sport’ just means that it has to be self-sufficient. They have to fundraise in order to operate,” says Alan Boschma, Franklin’s athletic director. The current year has posed a period of changing expectations for the team, wherein a series of miscommunications has left them without a clear plan to operate as a team.
On Oct. 6, 2025, the OSAA voted to sanction men’s volleyball as an official activity, two years after it was granted emerging activity status in 2023. In the spring of 2024, 68 varsity teams across Oregon participated in men’s volleyball — exceeding the required 50 teams to allow its status to be upgraded. According to the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association (AVCA), men’s volleyball has seen the highest growth of any men’s sport in the past six years, growing by 51%. Despite both the success of the Franklin team and the evident popularity of the sport, the PIL, and the neighboring Beaverton School District, decided not to add it as a high school sport in their schools during the 2025-2026 school year.
On Oct. 8, 2025, PIL and PPS Athletic Director Marshall Haskins announced the decision that men’s volleyball would not be added as a PIL sport, despite OSAA approval, meaning that if students wanted to participate in men’s volleyball, they would have to continue to do so through club channels. This decision was announced only to a small group of PPS athletic directors. Most families and students found out about the omission through an article published by the Oregonian on Oct. 21, or by independently communicating with Boschma, rather than through Franklin or PIL. Quickly, the decision was met with significant backlash from the community of players and parents, many of them confused. Haskins did not respond to a request for comment.
Spencer McEvoy, a sophomore at Franklin who plays libero, a specialized back-row defensive position, describes how, leading up to the season, he did not receive any information from the PIL or Boschma regarding the status of men’s volleyball. Most, if not all, of the information the community has about the current standing of their sport was obtained through players and parents reaching out to their respective athletic directors.
“At the start of the year, when we first found out it was getting canceled, we were more organized [and] trying to find out information,” says Marshall Furman, a sophomore at Franklin and men’s volleyball player . “But there’s just such a lack of communication between the athletic director and us … that I think we kind of gave up a little bit.” In previous years, the line of communication with Boschma was facilitated through players contacting him through email or by visiting his office.
Boschma mentions that in previous years, men’s volleyball players had been very proactive in terms of setting up communication and managing team affairs. This year, men’s volleyball players — many of them expecting a school-sanctioned season — had not started setting up a team until late January. “I know a lot of players want to play, but haven’t necessarily organized themselves, which I think is probably their biggest problem,” says Boschma. “The most organized were seniors last year, and now they’re gone. So we don’t really have basically a nucleus, if you will, of kids that want [to play].” Players note that, going into the school year, they were confused about the status of men’s volleyball.
While Boschma is expecting students to further advocate on their behalf, the players are still wishing for further communication of the goings-on of men’s volleyball. The resulting communication gap has left Franklin men’s volleyball in a difficult spot.
These communication gaps extend beyond Franklin. An article published on Oct. 17 on the Ida B. Wells High School Volleyball Booster Club’s website incorrectly stated, “PIL has stated that they will not allow [men’s volleyball] club teams to operate this season, nor will they permit the use of district gym space or equipment.” Boschma confirmed that this is not currently the case. The ability of the men’s volleyball team to use space at school “would depend on equipment, and it would depend on when” volleyball needs space, he explains. “Even last year, we were really limited on what we could do with our gym, because it’s so used in the spring by our spring sports.”
Registration for men’s volleyball at Ida B. Wells is currently open as a club sport on Arbiter, the website Portland Public Schools uses for sports registration, alongside Grant High School, Lincoln High School, and Roosevelt High School. Franklin’s club is not currently listed.
At Franklin, McEvoy, Furman, and two other returning players — Cor Dudley Borte and Jordan Nguyen — re-established the school club in mid-February, but there is more to be done before they can actually start practicing and playing. Boschma explains that once a club is established, it must meet certain criteria to compete. “Obviously, you got to have enough players, … you got to have funding, and have a coach.” The team attributes some of this delay to expecting the PIL to help coordinate the season. In addition, finding gym space to host practice in an already-crowded spring sports season, getting equipment, and managing tournaments are other factors to address before they can officially begin their season. “They [probably] need an adult somewhere to get them corralled,” Boschma comments.
In addition to logistical planning, funding is a large aspect of ensuring the team can function. Several thousand dollars are required for the team to operate, to be used to pay for things like equipment, jerseys, official fees, and tournament registration fees. According to Furman, the club currently hopes to mitigate some of these by reusing jerseys from previous years and sharing equipment with Franklin’s women’s volleyball program, as they did in previous years. “[Last year,] we did some basic fundraising [by] calling family and people we know to ask for donations. That was led just by the team members,” he says.
In terms of players, there is a small but strong core of approximately five students working to make the team happen, and they hope to expand their ranks. The absolute minimum to play on the court is six players, but most volleyball teams range from 10 to 14 players. One topic of discussion at the first official meeting of the club, occurring on Feb. 12, has been recruiting more members through posters, social media, and other means.
Another difficulty the team is navigating is the absence of a coach. Mykel Caruso, who coached the team in previous years, has since moved on to other occupations. Through Furman’s connections to Portland Chaos Volleyball Club, the Franklin team has gotten in touch with a coach who has offered to coach the team for free.
The Franklin team, known for its supportive community, appreciates men’s volleyball because of the welcoming, encouraging atmosphere. Furman says volleyball is “great for connection,” and has helped him make friends at Franklin. Players note that the environment is generally more supportive than in other sports they have tried. “I don’t want to say it’s an outcast sport, but … it’s very community-based, and it’s not as focused [on] skill as it is [about] developing a community with other people,” says McEvoy.
“I was completely ready for there to be another season,” says Furman. However, despite the team’s best efforts, this season, the deadline to register as a spring sport for OSAA has passed. The Franklin men’s volleyball team is looking to play in a league comprised of school-associated club teams instead. “I really hope that we can at least operate, especially for the seniors, because I think that they should be able to have their last season in high school,” McEvoy comments.
Despite the setbacks, the Franklin men’s volleyball community is determined to have a team. “I love volleyball, and I will always play as much volleyball as I can,” adds Furman. “Having a team here is great because it gives me extra time to play [and] more time to learn.”
