The 3 Ball System

*Originally posted 10/11/2021 - time to post this again!

Just add this one to my list of "Jason-ism's"

It is time...to run a 3 ball system at your high school games.

I go to lots of high school games during the fall and I am always surprised to see match after match that no one runs a 3 ball system in their gym. Nothing for the JV match and nothing for the Varsity match. I'm not sure why this is.

It seems to me that we take volleyball pretty seriously down here in Texas and High School volleyball is certainly a big deal. Bands, announcers, music, "hype" videos...all the things. In my opinion, this is something that will only ADD to the matches.

For those of you that might not know what I'm talking about, I will do my best to explain here:

• You have 3 balls that are used for the match.

• 1 ball is in play while the other 2 are held off the court near the back of the service area.

• 3 people are used to help with this system. 2 are holding the volleyballs at each end while the third is usually behind the 1st referee.

• At the end of each play, the dead ball is removed and given to the "helper" on that side of the court. The scoring team simply returns to the service line and receives a new ball from the helper on their side of the court. The volleyballs are then rolled between the helpers so that the 2 balls not in play are again at either end of the court.

• No more time wasted having athletes chase balls down hallways, into restrooms, under bleachers or into the stands.

It's quick, efficient and easy for athletes to get in this groove. When my high school team started doing this back in 2005 (in Colorado) we just practiced doing it at practice; they catch on really quick.

In my mind there is absolutely no reason why we can't do this in every high school in the state of Texas. It will speed up the matches of all levels and save that 6 rotation outside or Libero, that is always playing and shouldn't be the one chasing balls down the hall from doing just that.

Let athletes from another sport do it; give them a volleyball tshirt and a towel; Let them look the part. It is time...let's make it happen.

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