Local athletes and coaches react to newest IHSSA approved sports

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Indiana High School Athletic Association is now fulling recognizing Boys Volleyball and Girls Wrestling as sports.

In their annual meeting, the board of directors for the IHSAA classified both sports as emerging within the association.

“It was great. Anytime we can get our students involved in extracurricular activities, I think it's a great idea. And we got a lot of kids here that really wanted it to happen. This is just really good for them,” Riley High School Boys’ Volleyball Head Coach Warren Bynum said.

The decision comes on the heels of significant participation over the past two years.

According to the IHSAA, over 1,400 girls from 177 schools have participated in wrestling, meanwhile there are over 100 high school Boys Volleyball teams statewide.

The IHSAA will now establish state tournaments for both sports, with details on the events to be released in the coming months.

Riley High School Girls Wrestling Head Coach David Saleh says with this move, he is excited to see more barriers broken.

“I was very happy to have girls’ wrestling become an official sport because the girls work hard. They worked just as hard as the boys did. And there was even a phrase that was passed along this year, and it was ‘Wrestle like a Girl’ because wrestling like a girl is so much different than how the boys do it and it just needed to stand out on its own and it needs to have its own platform,” Saleh said.

The change will take place during the 2024-2025 season.