The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Lakewood boys volleyball planting roots in 1st season

When many people think about volleyball, especially in South Carolina, they think of women.

While men have played the sport since its inception, volleyball generally became more popular with women.

There are only a few dozen men's programs across South Carolina. This year, Lakewood added its name to the list.

The Gators, led by head coach Youshi Kirkland, are midway through their inaugural season. After Tuesday's home tilt with Airport, Lakewood had just three games left on its schedule, two of which will be at home.

The process of getting started was far from simple. Kirk had to overcome the stigma around the sport to get guys to come out in the first place. Then he had to get the small squad up to speed. While it hasn't been easy, they're looking to build a foundation that will last years at Lakewood.

PLANTING THE SEEDS

The idea of bringing boys volleyball to Lakewood was introduced last spring. Former athletic director Shannon Murray approached Kirk, who was in his first season coaching track and field for the Gators, about starting a team.

Kirk had experience with volleyball having played club ball for S.C. Midlands in Columbia, but he needed players if they were going to get a team off the ground.

"No one had interest at first, so I kind of went out to recruit," Kirk said. "I started with my track guys, of course, because volleyball was in the fall, track was in the spring, so I said, 'You have to do something in the offseason if you're not playing football or cross country. That kinda reeled some of them in.

"I sent out an email, started social media pages, and I had parents contact me saying their kids are interested, so I kind of branched out through all different levels."

Some guys were hesitant at first. Kirk turned to YouTube highlights to convince them that volleyball isn't just for women.

"I feel like the most challenging portion of recruiting was getting guys to come out because a lot thought it was a female sport," Kirk said. "Just showing them the different video clips of collegiate-level volleyball (in) men's, the Olympics-level volleyball men, showing that it's not just a female sport. I didn't fault them for that because we don't have (boys) volleyball in Sumter; they just started in the Columbia area, Florence area, so they're not used to seeing male volleyball."

Early results were not promising.

Kirk started workouts in May as the track season came to a close, and a few kids came out. That continued into the summer. There were two constants, soon-to-be-seniors Quindon Dais and Le'Andre Bethea.

With some prodding from Kirk, both wanted to give it a shot.

"As athletic as I am, I like to try new things," Le'Andre said. "People would say, 'I wouldn't see a boy playing volleyball.' But volleyball is fun."

Quindon admitted he was hesitant at first but fell in love with the sport once he gave it a shot.

"When he brought up volleyball to me, I was like, 'Me playing volleyball? I don't see it. You don't see a lot of males playing volleyball.' Granted, it has been going on for a while, but in South Carolina, we don't see it as much as other people," Quindon said. "Besides all of the outside expectations, we're just here to play volleyball and have a good time."

Kirk had to start with the absolute basics, but it's tough when you're only getting two, three, maybe four players out at practice. There were barely enough people to set up a spike.

"You have to have patience with them, understand this is their first time playing volleyball," Kirk said. "They don't know how to pass, don't know how to set, don't know how to properly spike, they don't know exactly how to move their feet. It took a lot of patience for me to teach them. The ones that were here are very coachable, so that kind of laid a weight off my shoulders a little bit."

While everyone loves a flashy spike for a kill, Kirk said priority No. 1 was teaching them how to pass.

"I told them, 'If we can't pass, we can't set to get to the spike,'" Kirk said. "A lot of people always thought the most important part of the game is the spike. I said, 'no, you to be able to pass first.' So we worked passing the most out of anything."

Quindon and Le'Andre put in a ton of work during the summer. They just had to hold out hope they would be able to fill out a roster by the time school started. In the meantime, they had to grow accustomed to the high expectations Kirk continues to set.

"Kirk's expectations, because he was a volleyball player, I think sometimes he wants us to be Olympians. That's how he coaches us," Quindon joked. "But we still have to work to get to that point."

The two seniors were crucial in getting the team off the ground.

"They came out wanting to play and willing to learn the sport. Even when we didn't have a full team, they were still dedicated," Kirk said of his eventual captains. "They were out there helping me recruit. They were out there pushing on social media, sending out text messages, talking to their peers. With those two, I could see the difference when it comes to leadership. Being a leader wasn't new to them; they knew the expectations, so it was a smooth transition for them."

GETTING TEAMS ON THE SCHEDULE

Once Kirk got the bones of a team together, he had to set a schedule. That's a little tougher when you don't have any guarantees that your roster will fill out once school starts, but there's no point in having a team if they don't have any games to play.

Luckily for the Gators, there were some teams close by hungry to get games on their schedule.

"To be honest, the schedule was the easy part. I came up with ¾ of my schedule in one day," Kirk said. "I had a list of schools that I knew for sure had boys volleyball, so I reached out to the high schools, contacted the athletic directors. I had six or seven games in one day."

OPENING THE SEASON

Once school started, Kirk's prayers were answered. Lakewood had a team of eight players, though not everyone stuck around all year. Currently, they have a team of seven strong, which means they have one substitute.

While not ideal, having a small roster allowed Kirk to emphasize the importance of everyone on the team knowing the basics of every position.

"I told them it's going to be one rotation. We don't have many athletes to sub in, so we all have to know how to pass on the back row, we all have to know how to set if need be, we all have to know how to identify if we want to spike or we want to tip," Kirk said. "I kinda went through all of the different positions with everyone, versus having a team of 16 where you have only front-row hitters or blockers or you have two specific setters. We all had to learn every position."

Kirk also emphasized the importance of team bonding. Volleyball is a sport built on the back of communication and chemistry. They had to play together if they were going to succeed.

"I preached to them exactly how we have to have chemistry on the court and we're a brotherhood," Kirk said. "Once they understood it, once they bought into my expectation with us of having a brotherhood and the expectation of the game and how do we play for each other, we kinda gelled toward each other."

On Aug. 21, the Gators opened their season with a tri-match at West Florence. The game came with a mixture of nerves and excitement.

"I was a little nervous," Kirk admitted. "The only reason I was nervous is because it was my boys' first game playing. They'd never been in the spotlight before, so I know how it can be when you're coming into a new sport and you're in the spotlight.

"(I had to bring) the energy, so my energy could rub off on them. If they see me nervous, it's going to make them nervous, so I couldn't show them my nervousness."

While Kirk put on a brave face, nerves started to set in to the players once the idea of playing a game became a reality.

"For the first match, I went in excited, and stepping on the court and actually seeing the ball come over to us and actually playing, the dynamic of it, it was kinda mind-blowing," Quindon said. "It's here now; we're actually playing volleyball. We did lose, but it's all a learning experience."

The early stages of the season were all road games for the Gators. They were supposed to finally have their home opener on Aug. 31, but Hurricane Idalia threw those plans off. Instead, they had to wait until Sept. 18. Learning the ropes on the road was a challenging process.

"You don't have your fan base on the road with you sometimes," Le'Andre said. "I wouldn't say it's difficult, but you have to be confident in yourself and your team; you don't have anyone cheering for you."

The Gators were also trying to build that confidence against much more experienced programs. But Quindon thinks the level of competition has its pros and cons.

"I think that watching how they play and seeing ways that we can improve, we're just learning from them," Dais said. "They've gotten the hang of it, so it's kind of an inspiration that one day we can be like that or for years to come. We're just starting the program now, when they get ready to play, they'll look like that."

Entering Tuesday's senior night match with Airport, Lakewood was still searching for its first win, but Kirk is staying positive with his team. He thinks that messaging is key to their development in Year 1.

"Words of encouragement to let them know, 'I've still got your back as a coach. We're new, we're playing people that have experience, and I'm proud of you for facing them,'" Kirk said of building confidence early on. "Once they see that I have the mindset of not backing down, they follow behind me. That's the kinda courage I need to lead by as a coach because I'm a reflection of my team, and my team is a reflection of me.

"I always stress the good that we're doing as well as the bad to let them know that the good always outweighs the bad."

MOVING FORWARD

Regardless of the wins and losses, Kirk thinks this season has been an excellent first step in laying a foundation for the program, even if he's losing three of his seven players to graduation.

"I feel like the program is definitely going to grow after the season," Kirk said. "I've got three great seniors leaving, and the underclassmen are phenomenal as well. I'm going to have a great program these next few years. The seniors are setting the tone and understanding the expectation that we have. The underclassmen are going to keep the expectation high. The program is definitely going to keep increasing and growing."

While Quindon and Le'Andre won't get to experience the fruits of their labor next season, they're excited to see where the team goes.

"Next year, when we're not here, I would hope that our teammates would say, 'He passed like this, he set like this.' Ways to push our legacy on," Quindon said. "But also have to leave a legacy for them."

As for their pitch to potential players?

"Don't miss out on the fun," Le'Andre said. Quindon added, "Come out and have a good time. Forget all the outside noise; it's a fun sport."