Rosa Vesty (left) is in her third year with the Iowa Hawkeyes volleyball side. Photo / Supplied
Volleyball’s renaissance in New Zealand is opening pathways to US college education for young Kiwis.
The sport now has the second-highest high school participation numbers of any sport, according to School Sport New Zealand’s report in 2024, coming in just behind netball.
Those skyrocketing numbers are reflected in an increase in landing scholarships to play on the American collegiate circuit, with Volleyball New Zealand confirming 33 Kiwis (18 women and 15 men) are currently competing in the US and Canada.
Rosa Vesty is one of them. She’s a member of the University of Iowa’s Division 1 volleyball programme, competing in the world-renowned Big 10 division.
Inspired by her mum, Paula, who was on a volleyball scholarship at Northern Arizona University, Vesty said the pathway was always in the back of her mind.
“It was definitely something that I grew up seeing and knowing about … Mum did it, so she was one of the first New Zealanders to go on a volleyball scholarship,” she said.
It doesn’t take anything away from the grind of sending highlight packages curated to the perfect length, and in her words, “a crap ton of emails” to hundreds of US coaches.
“It’s a lot of time on your computer … I’d always run out of space,” Vesty said. “It’s a lot of work but rewarding when you do eventually get emails back. It can be disheartening when you put a lot of time and effort and don’t really get much in return.”
The path was slightly different for Tamara Otene, who played three years in Division 1 for Georgia Tech and made her professional debut in Puerto Rico in February.
Volleyball only became her main sport a year or two before her move to the US, which was when she realised the chance of a scholarship and a free education was a very real possibility.
Otene’s process started off by contacting friends that had successfully made the shift and others well connected in the space, such as former Volley Ferns coach Sam Ryburn. She admitted she “needed help”, especially with the emails and highlights Vesty mentioned.
“You need to get highlight footage and you need to send it out to coaches over in America and make a list of the potential schools you might want to go to. You have to put yourself out there, which is not something I enjoyed,” she said.
The new age is a stark comparison from days gone by, especially for former Illinois State player and Volley Fern Stacey Niao, who left in 2011 and played a key role in helping Otene land her scholarship at her alma mater years later.
Niao, who grew up in Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty, said getting a scholarship was “never an option” for her.
She said her recruitment was completely “off the cuff”, as she only gained footage by playing in a game tailor-made for her Hamilton club coaches’ daughter, who had been scouted and needed footage.
“After that game the recruiter who was taking the footage was like ‘if you ever want to go to the States, let me know I’ve got footage of you’,” she said.
“I emailed him and then basically within two weeks I was getting offers from the States. It’s just real random and lucky that they invited me to that training.”
Stories like Vesty, Otene and Niao’s compare well to each other, as it shines a light on the ever-increasing exposure and awareness of the scholarship pathway.
It starts with the general televising of not only volleyball but a whole host of NCAA sports, such as American football and basketball. Kiwi athletes can easily tune in to these spectacles, with a notable example being Nebraska’s 2023 women’s volleyball side, who packed out a 92,000-seat football stadium for a match.
The ever-increasing social media reach is also working wonders for creating awareness and exposure, as it provides unparalleled access to not only players and programmes but also coaches who are willing to look international for talent.
The results speak for themselves.
“I know that a lot more athletes have gone over since [I did],” Otene said.
“It’s definitely increasing … it’s becoming more aware to people that they can do it.”
“Little things like coaches being more open to recruiting internationally … that’s also been a part of it. Coaches used to be pretty ‘keep it American’, so it’s definitely getting bigger and popular,” Vesty added.
Vesty went on to describe the impact of athletes not only coming back sharing their experience to volleyball communities in New Zealand but also helping level up the general skill level across club and school competitions.
“You come over and you have to train 20 hours a week, so you just get better and then you go home, make other people better who then come to college,” she said, describing it as a push-pull effect.
“When I came back to play [in New Zealand], I thought that the level had dramatically increased. There were so many more people playing, whether that be socially or competitively,” Otene added.
Niao quantifies the progress, as she said in this year’s women’s club national final, “most of the girls in the starting six or even on the bench have played [at an American college]”.
That growth in skill level and disclosure from those who have done it is even noticeable from the highest of realms.
Volley Ferns coach Adam Watson said the exposure has “elevated” the way junior athletes across club and school approach the sport.
“The younger generations are coming through now and seeing that as a viable option because a lot of those athletes who have now gone over have come back home and they share their experiences,” he said.
“It becomes a bit of a feedback loop … there’s definitely more connects now as well through volleyball-specific people linking our athletes back overseas now.”
Recruiter Eloise van Velthooven is a prime example of the new wave volleyball pathways for scholarship hopefuls.
Van Velthooven, who spent her final two years at Division 1 school Texas A&M Corpus Christi, took over agency Athletes2America in 2016 from her old agent.
“I help them get set up where there’s a few things that they need to apply for ... they have to be eligible not just aesthetically but academically as well,” she said.
In addition to sorting out eligibility, she helps create the all-powerful highlight videos and resumes to be sent out to coaches and programmes she has in her network.
“It’s a long journey because we’re on the other side of the world, so coaches just can’t come and see you. I understand it from that part as well … you’re just waiting for someone to want you, and when they do, it’s really exciting.”
For Vesty, it’s important to continue giving back, and inspiring the next generation of New Zealand volleyball players.
“Kids in high school might see me or other people over there that are like ‘oh, that’s maybe something I could think about doing’, which I think is cool.”