Boys volleyball coming soon as official SC high school sport. Here are the details
The use of a shot clock in basketball, a mercy rule in football and a brand new sanctioned sport were three of the items passed Tuesday by the South Carolina High School League’s executive committee.
The items passed will go into effect for the 2022-23 school year.
Boys volleyball now a sanctioned sport
The committee approved with a 12-0 vote that boys volleyball become a sanctioned sport beginning with the 2022-23 school year, with state championships to be held starting in 2023-24.
The season will be played in the fall just like girls volleyball. It is the first new sanctioned sport for the state since lacrosse in the 2009-10 school year.
Boys high school volleyball began as a club sport at SC schools in 2019 with 14 teams. In 2020, there were 22 teams playing until COVID canceled the season. There were 11 teams playing in 2021 (down because of COVID restrictions) and then 20 teams this season (with 17 of those being SCHSL members). At least 16 schools are required for it to have a championship.
“I’m excited for all of our boys who have been participating,” said Hanahan High boys coach Kelly Owens, who was one of those who helped push for boys volleyball to become a sanctioned sport. “I think it is a great thing for the state and is going to continue to grow very, very quickly. The boys game is very exciting to watch and is very fast.”
Teams that participated this year were Airport, Boiling Springs, Cane Bay, Carolina Forest, Dorman, Eastside, Hanahan, Hillcrest, Hilton Head, Lucy Beckham, Oceanside Collegiate, Richland Northeast, Socastee, St. James Stratford, Woodmont and Wando.
That number is expected to grow with some schools waiting for the sport to be officially sanctioned by the SCHSL.
“That’s going to help getting a lot more teams going,” Owens said.
This year the season ran from Feb. 16 through April 9. There was a final four and championships held at Cardinal Newman in April. Woodmont defeated Dorman 3-0 in the championship. Owens said they probably will have some sort of championship this year, but it won’t sanctioned until the following year.
According to a 2018 National Federation of State High School Associations sports participation survey, there were 24 states with 2,472 schools that had a boys volleyball team. It is regarded as one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.
Shot clock to get trial run in basketball
Showcases or invitational basketball events will be able to use a 35-second shot clock — if they want to — beginning next year. It will be allowed for two years. That motion passed with a 10-2 vote.
“It is a step in the right direction that will help develop basketball in South Carolina,” said John Combs, Westwood boys coach and member of S.C. Basketball Coaches Association executive board. “Most all level of basketball have a shot clock now. … “In the long run, this will be make the quality of basketball better in South Carolina.”
Combs said he sent out a survey that more than 100 basketball coaches responded to about the trial use of the shot clock and that 94% were in favor of it. It might be used at the S.C. Scholastic team camp in Rock Hill in June, Combs said.
Tournament organizers in Columbia area told The State they plan on it at their events, including Chick-fil-A Classic, MLK Bash boys and girls showcase, Hoopfest Thanksgiving tournament at CA Johnson, showcases in Orangeburg and The Bash at Ridge View.
The shot clock issue has been a hot topic among the state’s basketball coaches over the last few years. In 2018, Byrnes coach Layne Fowler created a proposal and presented it to the Class 5A athletic directors in a straw poll taken on the final day of the S.C. Athletic Administrators Conference. That proposal was defeated 40-8.
Momentum to have a shot clock was renewed in 2021 when the NFHS decided that a 35-second shot clock will be permitted in boys and girls high school basketball games beginning in 2022-23. A proposal for a national rule mandating a shot clock was not approved.
In the past, states could adopt the shot-clock rule despite not having NFHS approval, with some caveats.. The ruling will be a step “to encourage standardization among states,” according to the NFHS.
In 2021, there were nine states, including Georgia, that used a shot clock in high school basketball.
Mercy rule in effect for football
The SCHSL committee on Tuesday approved by a 12-0 vote to implement a running clock “mercy rule” in football when a team leads by 42 points or more at any point after halftime, with amended stoppages. According to the S.C. Football Coaches Association, the only stopped times will be on timeouts, incomplete passes, penalties and scores. The SC Football Coaches Association are the ones who came up with the proposal.
In the past, there could only be a running clock if both coaches agreed to it before the start of a game. Now, it will mandatory and enforced in the second half if a team leads by 42 or more points.
“This would take the coaches out of the conversation,” SCHSL committee member Carlos Cave said.
Another proposal that sought to allow students to play in both junior varsity and varsity games in the same week was voted down 10-2. A rule was added in recent years for players to participate in either varsity or JV for that week.
Typically, JV games are played on Thursday and varsity on Friday.
“We really leaned on the medical advice that was presented before the committee,” Cave said. “Concerns of kids playing on back-to-back play and we currently have three calendar day window between contests. Those were some of the things brought to our attention as far as medical advice.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 2:53 PM.
