Blue Devil Varsity Boys’ Volleyball Reinstated for Fall

For the first time in more than a decade, Huntington High School will put a varsity boys’ volleyball team on the court in the fall. Trustees have appointed veteran physical education teacher Eric Mininni as the head coach.

Students have expressed interest in the district resuming its sponsorship of a varsity boys’ volleyball team for several years. The district has tracked participation in the Finley boys’ volleyball program, which was reinstated four years ago. Officials believe interest is now sufficient to allow for the reinstatement of the varsity program.

Planning for the new varsity team is well underway. The Blue Devils will practice daily in the Finley Middle School gym, which will also serve as the home court for matches. A Hudl camera is affixed to the Finley gym wall allowing for matches to be filmed, livestreamed for fans and archived for the team to review for instructional purposes.

Section XI has been notified that Huntington will be sending a team onto the court in order for the organization to generate a schedule of home and away matches.

The Finley gym features a regulation size court with new sleeves for modern net posts. There is an electronic scoreboard and new electric bleachers. A locker room is available for the Blue Devils. An ice machine is located just off the gym making it convenient to the coach and players should ice be required.

Huntington already sponsors JV and varsity girls’ volleyball teams. The numbers for those squads have held steady. The two Finley girls’ volleyball teams draw strong annual turnouts, sometimes approaching 100 seventh and eighth graders with a maximum of 40 being selected for the two teams.

Practice for the fall season is expected to begin on Monday, August 25 at 8 a.m. in the Finley gym. Student-athletes must sign-up on Final Forms in order to be cleared. Final Forms will open for sign-ups for the fall season 30 days in advance of the season’s start.

Students interested in playing volleyball for Huntington should reach out to Coach Mininni at the high school or send him a message at emininni@hufsd.edu.