Volleyball emerges as surprising pathway for promising NZ female athletes into US college scholarships

Volleyball is fast becoming a top sport in New Zealand, with pathways for elite athletes in the US college system. Photo / George Novak

• Volleyball is the second biggest sport among secondary school students, with more than 27,300 participants.
• The sport offers significant international opportunities, including scholarships in the US and professional contracts.
• Volleyball’s social aspect appeals to its growing popularity among teens.

For many young Kiwis, it’s the ‘other’ sport - the one they play in the off-season of their main sport - but it’s fast becoming the biggest among teens.

And it comes with international opportunities.

Volleyball is New Zealand’s second biggest sport among secondary school students with just over 27,300 participants (across genders) - behind only netball (29,400).

That puts it ahead of the sport that has long been considered as the one that’s ‘taking over’ - basketball. It is also more popular than rugby, football, and cricket.

“It’s [got] very big, especially amongst the girls,” says Christchurch Girls’ High School coach Mark Norton.

“I’m pretty sure it’s close to 17,000 girls now.”

That’s still a long way behind netball’s 28,000 girls – but it’s also comfortably ahead of girls’ football (7700). And it’s continuing to grow.

The crowds gather at the 2025 National Secondary School Volleyball Champs in Palmerston North. Photo / Ella Carlsen - Volleyball NZ

The recently completed national secondary school tournament in Palmerston North was the biggest yet. Held in the same week as Maadi Cup – the event dwarfed the national school rowing championships.

There were “200 teams, which is about 3000 participants from 128 different schools, and there are only 330 schools in New Zealand”, says Volleyball NZ board member Richard Casutt.

“It’s a pretty big percentage of schools participating in a competitive tournament.”

Why?

The high participation numbers come as no surprise to Casutt – who believes the sport has always been one of our biggest.

“I actually think it’s been popular forever in a day, and it’s just now the [participation] numbers are tracked better. Volleyball in the world is the second biggest [sport]. It’s played in 206 countries,” Casutt says.

He may be right – but why is it continuing to grow at such a rate among both girls and boys?

“I think they are looking for alternative options to perhaps rugby and things with sort of concussions and stuff,” Norton says.

National champions, St Margaret's College claim the Secondary Schools Volleyball title. Photo / Ella Carlsen - Volleyball NZ

There’s also a thought that the sport sells “fun” better than most.

“Volleyball seems to have a really good spirit around it. With having rallies, it’s sort of an on-and-off game and so between every rally, there’s an opportunity to come together as a group just quickly and celebrate or make a plan for the next point. I think that’s part of it,” says Norton.

Casutt says the social aspect of the sport is a proven attraction. “The data says that a lot of our young teenagers want to play with their mates and have fun. And there’s only a small few that want to win stuff.”

Winning

There is most certainly a place for those students, too. The United States. There is a wealth of opportunities for our best and brightest to take their talent to the college system.

“There’s something like 15,000 girls’ scholarships for volleyball in the States,” says Norton.

It’s the benefit of what’s known as Title 9, a federal civil rights law in the US that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education programme that receives federal funding. Effectively, the male and female programmes must receive equal funding.

Regan Wilson with the spike in Tauranga Boys' College's win over Hillcrest High School in the national semi-final. Photo / Ella Carlsen - Volleyball NZ

“We’ve got some pioneers, the teachers in schools here that were our first students to get college scholarships in the States in the early ‘90s,” says Casutt.

There are currently 33 Kiwi volleyballers on scholarship across the US and Canada, including 18 women and 15 men. The value of some of those scholarships is extraordinary.

“One of them is on a full ride in a division one school, so her’s is worth about $200,000 over four years,” says Norton.

Norton has seen many of his former students follow that path.

“We’ve got two more just about to go and we’ve got two over there at the moment and that’s just from the last two senior girls’ teams from Christchurch Girls’.”

By comparison, basketball has 143 Kiwi athletes on the college circuit with a split of 75 females and 68 males. Just under a third of them are with NCAA division one colleges.

College basketball has long been known as a viable pathway for our young athletes, but Casutt suggests volleyball’s opportunities are yet to be fully realised.

“You can’t tell me there wouldn’t be more that’d be interested in going down that pathway if they know about it,” he says.

Like basketball, volleyball is not just a route to a free education – it’s a profession of its own. A lucrative one at that.

“We’ve had a couple of people recently that have graduated out of college, one who’s just signed a professional contract in Puerto Rico and is probably heading into the American Pro Leagues - a girl out of Westlake Girls’ called Tamara Otene,” Casutt says.

Otene went through Illinois State University before rounding out her college career with the powerful Georgia Tech.

“She’s on just over US$100,000 ($174,100) playing professional volleyball,” Casutt says.

Tournament MVP - Julia Mitchell of St Margaret's (Christchurch) swinging in the national final. Photo / Ella Carlsen - Volleyball NZ

There are opportunities in Asia, as well.

“A compatriot [Anilise Fitzi] is a couple of years out of college, she’s playing professionally in [South] Korea. For four months - a US$150,000 contract playing with a top Korean women’s team and has become a bit of an icon,” says Casutt.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of volleyball’s popularity in New Zealand is that it has little exposure outside of the Olympics or, more recently, the Commonwealth Games.

Though medal success on the sand of the Gold Coast certainly helped thrust it into the spotlight. For the most part, it seems that the game is flourishing on its own enjoyment – and the fact that it is complementary to winter sports like netball and basketball.

Second sport

“It was a second sport for people like [former Tall Blacks] Kurt Penney and Tom Abercrombie as well. [Abercrombie] won a national schools volleyball title with Westlake Boys,” says Casutt.

“It was a second sport for Anna Harrison [nee Scarlett], who actually played indoor volleyball for New Zealand before she played netball for New Zealand.”

Harrison also played beach volleyball for New Zealand.

Anna Scarlett (now Harrison) in action playing volleyball in 2009. Photo / Photosport

Despite a short overlap in the first term of school, the court sports are able to not only co-exist – but to enhance crossover skills across all codes.

“We think that the kids that play volleyball make better netballers. They’re a bit more aerial, they’re balanced in the air, they’re used to jumping, they’re used to playing above themselves,” says Norton.

But volleyball’s growing popularity and emerging opportunities could see that “second sport” become a first choice for more and more athletes in the coming summers.