Barrow Bash has expanded to create a team consisting of boys volleyball players fromacross the county. Players from Apalachee, Winder-Barrow and Barrow Arts and Sciences have all come together to create a 28-person team to compete against nearby schools.
Barrow Bash is a volleyball program in Barrow County that originated as a preseason tournament for girls volleyball. It expanded to incorporate training for girls and youth and now it has brought boys volleyball under its umbrella.
The idea for the new team came from Robert Stover, who has worked in Barrow for over a decade and is a current-day referee for girls volleyball, and Joey Alfonso, the head coach for Apalachee girls volleyball. Stover had the idea previously, but he struggled to bring the idea to life until he met with Alfonso to lift things into fruition.
“What we did was – we just spread the word that, any guys in high school here in Barrow County that want to, they can come play on this team, and we’ll just have a hybrid team,” Stover said.
The stars aligned in a way for Stover and Alfonso with their efforts to jumpstart this initiative. The resources available were one catalyst for the growth, among others.
“There’s a lot of desire on (Alfonso’s) part to grow,” Stover said. “We’ve got a lot of support from our (Apalachee) principal and our athletic director. We’ve got a lot of kids that want to play, and we’ve got two gyms.”
Stover said the intention of building the boys team wasn’t necessarily to combine players from different schools; that’s just the way things played out. However, for Stover, that’s what makes this development so unique in nature. He said he hasn’t seen anything of this variety in all his years working in the county.
“I think it’s the only thing where we’ve got a unified high school boys team in the county competing against other schools,” Stover said. “So, it makes it unique, and we want to get the word out and get people out to see us, if possible. Boys volleyball is very high-flying and exciting.”
The team operates under the name Barrow Bash, in the same way all teams have a place and a mascot. However, the Bash aren’t a GHSA-sanctioned team, as the GHSA hasn’t picked up boys volleyball as a sport yet.
The team currently consists of 11 players from Apalachee and Winder-Barrow each, five from BASA and one student from Seckinger in Gwinnett that has ties to BASA.
Stover anticipates that the team will have to break off into their individual schools once the GHSA picks up the sport, but for now, the idea is open for all eligible parties to be a part of. He said he hopes to continue to grow the sport of volleyball in the county through the Barrow Bash program as a whole.
Stover also looks forward to a good season from the Bash, as he believes the team has the talent to keep up with all of the challenges they may face this season.
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