When Trey Myers became interested in volleyball as a fifth-grader, he didn’t have a team to play on. But, he was able to fill his craving by playing with an Austin volleyball girls team that allowed boys who were 12 or under to play on it.

Eventually, Trey went to work on recruiting some of his friends to play volleyball and, with the help of the late Val Pitzen, he was able to get a boys team started through Austin Park and Recreation three years ago. That team, which is coached by Trey’s mom, Aleta, has had eight to nine players on it per season and has played in the Twin Cities, Iowa and Wisconsin.

“Volleyball is my favorite sport and I’d been wanting to get a team together for a long time,” said Trey, who also plays soccer and competes in swimming and diving. “It’s way more competitive with the boys level and that makes it more fun.”

Aleta has enjoyed coaching her son and his friends and she said that they are hoping to add a team of younger players and a team of older players before the next season starts in the spring. Austin will also host a boys volleyball tournament in April and the team will hold open gym sessions in Hastings Gym 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays this fall.

“Volleyball is a great sport to learn, because you can play, two on two, three on three, four on four or five on five. You can play it on the sand or in the gym and you can play it for your whole life,” Aleta said. “When you ask boys to jump as high as they can and hit as hard as they can, what’s not to like for them?”

Jacob Venega stays active with the volleyball team, along with also being active in basketball, mountain biking, track and field and cross country. He said that it helps to stay balanced by competing in various sports.

“With playing a lot of sports, you become an athlete and then when the other season comes around you work on the individual skills for that sport,” Venega said. “I like volleyball in general, whether you play it competitively or just for fun.”

Lucas Evenson, who also competes in soccer and basketball, was drawn to volleyball when his cousin played girls volleyball. He said he has picked up on the sport of volleyball by focusing on certain skill sets over the offseason.

He also credited his friend for helping to get the team started.

“Trey played a major part of this team,” Evenson said. “He kept nagging at me to do it and I finally decided to join it and I’m glad I did that.”

Aleta said volleyball is a little different sport when boys are playing it and she has enjoyed coaching the Austin team.

“It’s a very fast paced game and they pick it up faster than girls. It’s really different to coach boys,” she said.

Aleta and Trey also said they are trying to get more boys to play volleyball for Austin to raise the popularity of the sport.