Team Tampa Bay's Take by Joey Johnston: Tampa Bay; A Transforming Community

By Joey Johnston

Besides settling who wins the national title, the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship serves as a rallying point for everyone connected to the sport — a convention of coaches, players, legends of the game, industry executives, vendors and the most devoted of traveling fans.                           

Each year, they attend the event, shifting from city to city, navigating the airports, rental-car counters, hotels, convention centers, restaurants and arenas. It can seem like a blur of similar experiences.

Some of the regulars might have a distant memory of 2009, the other time that Tampa hosted the event, when unbeaten Penn State rallied past Texas in a riveting five-set championship match.

Volleyball has come a long way since then.

But so has Tampa.

“Our championship campus has totally transformed in the last four years, let alone what has taken place in the last 14 years,’’ said Rob Higgins, executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, which is hosting the event along with the University of South Florida. “If you haven’t been to Tampa since the last time we hosted in 2009, you truly won’t recognize us. We have a compact and walkable footprint that’s ideal for this championship.’’

Since 2009, the TBSC (and all of Team Tampa Bay) has hosted 18 major events — everything from the Women’s Basketball Final Four to the NCAA Men’s Basketball early rounds to the NCAA Frozen Four to the College Football Championship Game to Super Bowl 55 (which required massive logistical pivots due to the COVID pandemic).

The TBSC prides itself on creating memorable experiences for the participating athletes and coaches, who generally depart with rave reviews for the attention to detail and fun extras that accompany the competition.

For the most part, this week’s participating teams — the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Pittsburgh Panthers, Wisconsin Badgers and Texas Longhorns — will be focused on what takes place inside Amalie Arena.

Meanwhile, the fans can explore the area, especially after Thursday night’s national semifinals. An extra off-day has been built into the schedule, so Sunday afternoon’s championship match can be shown on ABC-TV. There are so many options that simply weren’t around in 2009.

They can experience the Riverwalk, which connects downtown Tampa through picturesque vistas, restaurants and outdoor parks, while providing a daily vibrant backdrop for the more than 10,000 residents of Tampa’s once-lonely urban core.

They can have meals at Armature Works or Sparkman Wharf.

They can bask in the sunshine while checking out Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.

They might be staying at one of the new hotel properties, including the 26-story, 519-room downtown JW Marriott.

They likely arrived at Tampa International Airport, which has undergone voluminous renovations (totaling more than $2-billion when the overall project is completed). It was ranked last year as the No. 1 large airport by the J.D. Power 2022 North American Airport Satisfaction Study.

And when it comes to competition day, it might look like the same Amalie Arena that was around in 2009, but the building now features more than $60-million of improvements.

As for the volleyball itself, it has risen from niche sport to a rapidly growing entertainment property that now has the full attention of television executives.

In 2021, the five-set championship match (Wisconsin-Nebraska) drew 1.2-million viewers on ESPN2, which was a 71-percent increase from the previous title game (2020 COVID spring season) and a 119-percent boost from the December 2019 title game. This season alone, more than 2,500 NCAA Division I women’s volleyball matches were shown on ESPN platforms, including the streaming ESPN-Plus service.

In August, when Nebraska staged “Volleyball Day in Nebraska’’ — an outdoor double-header at the Memorial Stadium football venue — the attendance was 92,003, the largest for a female sporting event in world history.

“This is what every girl before us dreamed of for so many years — and we get to live it out,’’ Penn State middle blocker Taylor Trammell said earlier this season. “I can’t believe what happened in Nebraska. And by being on ABC, I think it shows that this sport is here to stay.’’

More than 450,000 high-school girls are playing volleyball, a female participation rate second only to track and field, according to statistics from the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Florida hosts the largest club volleyball event in the world — the AAU Championships in Orlando. Tampa is also home to the Orlando Tampa Volleyball Academy (OTVA), the No. 1-ranked club in the state (and the No. 4-ranked club nationally).

Boys volleyball and girls beach volleyball have been added as sanctioned sports by the Florida High School Athletic Association. There are now 18 four-year colleges in Florida that offer beach volleyball (including the University of Tampa and USF).

Meanwhile, Coach Chris Catanach’s UT Spartans have won three NCAA Division II national titles since 2009, most recently in 2021 when UT’s Martinez Sports Center played host to the Final Four. Coach Jolene Shepardson’s USF Bulls just engineered one of the nation’s top turnaround seasons, garnering 22 victories while reaching the Fab 4 of the National Invitational Volleyball Championships.

“Volleyball is really growing around the country, but particularly in our state,’’ said TBSC vice president of events Claire Lessinger, a former college volleyball player and head coach. “We are in a Mecca of volleyball and we plan to utilize all of those relationships as we host this event.

“It’s more than just (hosting) three matches for us. It’s an opportunity to work with our good friends at the NCAA, while helping to grow the game and create a lasting legacy. The sport is booming.’’

How can Tampa go wrong when its mayor, Jane Castor, is perhaps the biggest cheerleader for bringing college volleyball’s premier event to town?

For good reason. Castor was a volleyball and basketball standout at UT, where she’s also a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Castor doesn’t need an explanation for the allure of volleyball. She lived it herself. She still gets a twinkle in her eye when recalling the adrenaline rush provided by playing for the Spartans.

A few years ago, Castor spoke at a Harvard University symposium. Using an athletic analogy, she talked about the satisfaction of the perfect volleyball kill shot.

“I was talking to these guys, saying when you time it perfectly and slam that ball, nobody has a chance to react and you’re all jacked up, there’s nothing like that,’’ Castor said. “They were looking at me, eyes bugged out. They were like, ‘Get away from her. She’s crazy.’ ‘’

Crazy for volleyball.

Crazy for the power of sports.

“We know the value of sports and what it brings to a community,’’ Castor said. “We want our residents, fans from all over, the players and coaches to experience a great time and have an unforgettable experience. We’re always dedicated to putting on a first-class event and showcasing the greatest city in the world. That’s what we intend to do.’’

“We love the trajectory of college volleyball,’’ Higgins said. “It’s a fantastic event and a fantastic sport.’’

It’s a can’t-miss recipe, combining a fast-rising sport and a fast-rising city. Volleyball has come a long way. So has Tampa. It’s time for the show — and the showcase — to begin.