Missouri volleyball announces elementary youth league schedule

COLUMBIA — The Missouri volleyball program announced Wednesday that it will host its ninth annual elementary school youth leagues starting Sept. 27.

The leagues, open to third- through fifth-graders, will run for five weeks and end on Oct. 29. For a fee of $20, attendees will receive a Missouri volleyball T-shirt, free admission to a Missouri volleyball match for their entire family and a Missouri volleyball.

All leagues will have at least one player from the Missouri volleyball team helping the children learn volleyball basics.

“Our girls run it like a practice,” said Shawn Davis of MU's media relations department. “They perform basic drills and do team bonding activities.”

Davis hopes involving the Tigers players in the leagues will help the team’s popularity.

“A by-product of the league is to promote what MU volleyball is all about, which is staying active in the community,” Davis said. “And hopefully this generates more interest in the community about our team.”

All the elementary schools, with the exception of Ridgeway, will have the clinic from 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays or Fridays. Ridgeway will conduct its own clinic from 6:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays. Lewis Elementary has yet to set a time or day for its clinic.

For more information and to sign up, go to MUTigers.com.