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New Uniform?

Hello Cubs World,I had to jump into this conversation. As a Business Professor, I’m always looking for the bottom-line opportunities.  Here’s my suggestions, based on all the news I’ve read on this matter:1) Pinstripes is the Late Season Look The new home uniform has visual appeal on television, but is a bit less popular with merchandising, […]

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New Uniform?

Hello Cubs World,
I had to jump into this conversation. 
As a Business Professor, I’m always looking for the bottom-line opportunities. 

Here’s my suggestions, based on all the news I’ve read on this matter:
1) Pinstripes is the Late Season Look

The new home uniform has visual appeal on television, but is a bit less popular with merchandising, for a few reasons. First, when we think of the Fall Classic, we can only ever picture our teams in their most “formal looking” attire. Pinstripes feels like we are dressed to win, like a tuxedo. Second, all the dominant franchises have a uniform that commands this sense of formality – think of the Yankees and Dodgers, and how “classic” they look. Third, fans are conservative because they skew older in baseball than i some other sports. They like reminiscing over good times. Fourth, pinstripes at home after the All-Star game, and in post-season. New uniform at home in preseason and before the All-Star game. The old uniform feels like Fall, and playoff runs. 

2) The Blues is an Early Season Look

Many teams have been experimenting with “ultramodern” looks, largely because of experimentation with high performance synthetic fibers. Frankly, it’s easier to make something look like artificial colors when using artificial materials.  Second, younger fans tend to like such artificial colors over earthier, natural colors. They are more neuro-stimulating/psychedelic, and they look more like animation and video game colors. Third, Spring makes us thing about bright colors, newness, progress, and intentional change. Every team is finding itself anew in the Spring. We are hoping for our team to come together and look like a squad worthy of a playoff run. The blue sky offers us a metaphor for possibilities.   

3) More Money? Better Symbolism 

Most people get tattoos, or choose their wardrobes, to signify some important meaning. Fans could really get into the double meaning of “the possibilities of Spring” versus the “winner-take all” contest of the Fall. This way, you’re selling two looks for parts of the year to fans, with both having deep significance. The fans would also be encouraged to participate in this symbolism. Hey, most of the success of Japanese baseball is how they treat the whole fan experience like a meaningful ritual to unite a region of the country, not too different from their folk ritual holiday events. Same with soccer clubs around the world. If you want to raise revenues and intensify the loyalty, increase the excitement, the team bonding, and the team lore with better fan rituals and symbols. Make the symbols represent things at a deeper level. The Spring Squad must find their Identity, and the Fall Squad must get to work deploying the best version of that identity. Win-Win. It nets the club more merch money when the fans en masse make the merch switch mid-season every year.

Every year the spring look can evolve, but the fall classic look would stay very similar over time


4) Ball-Players Choose the Hat Logos? 

In addition, make the hat logo change every year, even in subtle ways, to be vintage of that year. My preferred idea would be to sell 5 versions of the hat logo, each labeled on the back of the hat as the “Preseason, Pre-All Star, Post-All Star, Postseason, and World Series” variants of the logo. My simple suggestion is that the logo would slightly evolve during the season to show how the team has “leveled up”. Similar to how a military officer is awarded more stripes, the logo could be awarded a different “flair” to it. The team only hits its 4th stage of evolution if it makes the post-season, and 5th stage at World Series, but would always hit the first 3 stages.

I know for awhile, everyone thought that fans should vote on everything. But sometimes, there’s good reasons to do it differently. The identity of the 40 man roster should be celebrated as much as possible to create a bond with the fans. The 40-man roster of a given year should choose it OWN logo from a list of suggestions that they think fits their squad. The 40-man squad would vote on the annual hat logo, and its progression designs, 10 days before their first Spring Training Game. Any player who comes into later stages of the team, via trade or returning from injury, will get the uniform of that stage, but not of any stages they missed.  

5) Annual Team Captains?

I believe that after 2026, MLB teams should have captains, who are the spirit leaders of the team. They are voted on by the 40 man players on the roster shortly before the Regular season starts. Players vote for players, pitchers vote for pitchers. 2 votes, split between two different candidates, from the Head Coach and Bench Coach. 1 vote each for the Pitching Coach, Hitting Coach; and, one hitting candidate from the 1st and 3rd Base coaches, and 1 vote for 1 pitching candidate from 2 top pitching assistant managers (50 votes total). There should be 2 captains – one on the field (25 votes), one in the bullpen (25 votes).

The main requirements are that both Captains must have been with the major league club for at least 1 full year prior of service, providing evidence of team leadership qualities. In the first year of captainhood, a player must contracted for at least 1 more year of service or possess a player or club option year for the next year. A player should be able to serve as a repeat captain, however, if they are entering the last year of contract. Thus, the Captain cannot be a short-term “mercenary” player. Voters are encouraged to not automatically pick the player with the highest projected WAR, but the player who is the morale leader of the team for “rallying rituals” during the game or speaking to the press. For position players it may default to being a vote-off of a starting catcher and a shortstop in the rare instance nobody qualifies the contract length requirement’ or, the nominated “ace starter” regardless of playing service as the default pitching captain. The Captain’s Jersey will have a Captain designation for that year. If the Captain is traded by the fall trade deadline, or if they are placed on the 60-day injured list, another Captain may be selected immediately. 

Cubs Captains in 2025 would definitely include Shota Imanaga (The obvious fan favorite) and probably include Dansby Swanson (the heart of the defense and the longest contracted Cub). A case could be made that Ian Happ or Nico Hoerner would steal the vote from underneath Swanson, because Happ is media savvy and Hoerner is considered a bench leader. However, in 2026, Kyle Tucker could easily steal that designation if we sign him. 

Because team Captains are expected to speak first on the microphone at major club activities, and to be a leader with public relations, they would receive 100k to donate to a charity of their choosing within their home State, and 100k in personal income bonus for every captain selection they have earned, pegged to inflation increases. The league would pay for this; in addition to paying for a basic PR campaign to introduce all the Opening Day team captains to the public every year. 

In addition, AA and AAA teams should also have captains with captain bonuses of 25k for charity, 25k income for non 40 -man roster players with at least 1 year of club service. Designated captains could be traded or promoted but not cut in the year they are designated captains. They could not be promoted before June 1 or traded before July 1.  

Only 2 new captains can be selected each year to replace promoting, traded, or 60 day injured players at either the minor or major league level. They still get the same financial bonuses if they serve for at least 25 games. Replaced minor league captains could not be promoted or traded at all for that year, without paying an additional 200k bonus to the new captain and 200k to the minor league club’s charitable donations, and captains who finish the year in that role would cost an extra 200k to take in the following Rule 5 Draft. 
 
Conclusion
I think this is a BANGER IDEA, and would set a trend in the league. I should be hired by the league to prove why this would increase revenues and fan engagement. It provides another level of “baseball lore” for fans to unite over. IT would make all uniforms uniquely collectible for each of the 5 stages of the season. It would greatly encourage fans to wear the proper gear in the two sides of the season, and the proper hat from each of the 5 stages of competitive evolution (although I would restrict the Postseason and World Series sales to 2 types of fans – those who attended postseason/world series games, and those who had proof of purchase of the prior hats of the season).

It would also encourage fans to buy more early and late stage gear to prove their loyalty and standing as fans. It would greatly increase sales and increase team morale/loyalty. Finally, fans wearing the matching kit and/or hat for the right part of the current season, when attending live, would always receive a gift at the gate, EVERY TIME they attend – such as a free bobblehead doll of a non-star on the 26 man roster, a $7 food voucher, a stadium towel, a vinyl bumper sticker, or 20% off any merchandise order at the stadium up to $100.  

 

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Plea on social media saves Nebraska high school’s football and volleyball seasons | Sports

BASSETT – It looks like they’ll be playing football and volleyball at North Central after all. The Class D school – a co-op of Rock County and Keya Paha County – found itself in a tough spot after the coaches in both sports resigned this past season. Ryan Richey stepped down as the head football […]

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BASSETT – It looks like they’ll be playing football and volleyball at North Central after all.

The Class D school – a co-op of Rock County and Keya Paha County – found itself in a tough spot after the coaches in both sports resigned this past season. Ryan Richey stepped down as the head football coach and Heather Painter moved on as volleyball coach.

An inability to fill those positions led the school to turn to social media in a last-ditch effort to fill the vacancies. Administrations at both schools had been actively engaged in the recruitment of coaches with little success.

A shortage of teachers also complicated the process as coaching duties often are assigned to educators. Administrators said they didn’t want to force coaching duties on teachers who are there to do exactly that – teach.

The Knights have received good news in recent days, according to Rock County athletic director Kayla Fischer.

“We’ve gotten responses from qualified people and we’re going to start the interview process soon,” she said.

It was getting to the critical stage as practice for both sports starts in about a month. School officials had said if coaches weren’t hired by Aug. 1 that the school district might be forced to cancel both football and volleyball seasons.

Fischer said she is thankful that won’t be the case.

“We’ve had assistant coaches working with the players,” Fischer said. “I don’t think the kids have been too worried about it because they knew we’ve been working hard to fill those spots.”

A response to a Facebook post asking interested applicants to apply drew a humorous response.

“The stands are usually full of coaches on game day, just use one of them.”

The schools are located in north-central Nebraska near the South Dakota border.



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From NBA to Olympic sand, Chase Budinger takes on AVP Intuit Dome

LOS ANGELES — Chase Budinger’s athletic career doesn’t fit in a box. He played seven seasons in the NBA with the Rockets, Timberwolves, Pacers and Suns. Then he switched sports entirely, grinding his way onto the U.S. Olympic beach volleyball team, making him the first person to appear in both an NBA regular season game […]

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LOS ANGELES — Chase Budinger’s athletic career doesn’t fit in a box. He played seven seasons in the NBA with the Rockets, Timberwolves, Pacers and Suns. Then he switched sports entirely, grinding his way onto the U.S. Olympic beach volleyball team, making him the first person to appear in both an NBA regular season game and the Olympic beach volleyball competition.

Now fresh off the Paris Games, Budinger is back with partner Miles Evans for the AVP League’s Intuit Dome event in Inglewood July 11–12, representing the San Diego Smash. He sat down with The Sporting Tribune to talk about his path, what sets these AVP League matches apart, and the new team format.

The Sporting Tribune: You just made history as the first person to compete in both the NBA and the Olympics in beach volleyball. Now that you’ve done it, what does that milestone mean to you personally?

Chase Budinger: It means the world to me because I put so much hard work and time into both sports. For me to grow old and tell my kids I played in the NBA and also became an Olympian, those are two of the biggest accomplishments of my life. It wasn’t easy. There was a lot of grueling work and growing pains, especially switching to a new sport and getting my butt kicked at first. Learning from that and building the confidence to become an Olympian was really satisfying for me.

TST: What first drew you to beach volleyball after your NBA career? When did it shift from being a hobby to something you knew you could pursue at the highest level?

CB: The plan was always to play beach volleyball once my basketball career was done, since basketball careers usually don’t last super long. And beach volleyball is something you can play into your 40s, most of the top U.S. players are in their late 30s or early 40s. I thought I’d have a longer basketball career, but when that ended sooner than I wanted, I had time to really go for it. I made it a goal to become an Olympian instead of just playing for fun.

TST: How did your background as a professional basketball player help you, or challenge you, when you switched to elite beach volleyball?

CB: It helped a lot. In basketball your days are so structured with training, practice, lifting, recovery. That routine was something I carried over. One thing I noticed in beach volleyball is people fall in love with the lifestyle, you go to the beach, practice for two hours, then you’re done. I really tried to approach it like a career. I wanted to help my partners see that too. If you want to compete with the best in the world, you have to do more than just show up for a couple hours.

TST: Looking back, from NCAA basketball to the NBA to the Olympic sand, could you have pictured this path? What advice would you give young athletes about staying open to change?

CB: I never envisioned this route at all. I thought I’d play beach volleyball for fun on the AVP, but fully embracing it professionally and representing the country wasn’t something I saw coming. The advice I’d give is: try multiple sports. These days kids get pushed into specializing in one sport too soon. For me, basketball and volleyball actually helped each other. Playing multiple sports made me better overall, and that’s something I think is missing for a lot of kids now.

TST: The AVP League is bringing 300 tons of sand into the Intuit Dome for this event. For fans who’ve never seen an AVP League match before, what can they expect?

CB: It’s the best of the best teams going at it. The level is really high and the games are super fast-paced because they’re played to 15 instead of 21. You have to come out aggressive right away with your serves and try to create points because things can slip away so quickly. Being indoors in an arena, with the lights, the crowd, the MC, Mark Schuermann is one of the best, it’s really a show. I’ve never been to Intuit Dome before so I’m excited to see what it’s like to play beach volleyball there.

TST: You’re playing for San Diego Smash in the AVP League. How has representing a city as part of a team changed the feel of competition?

CB: I love it. Representing a city gives you that team atmosphere you don’t usually get in beach volleyball since it’s usually just two-on-two. Here you have a full team, including the women’s side, so you’re cheering for each other and invested in each other’s success. It brings that camaraderie that I really enjoy.

TST: The AVP League format is faster-paced, with best-of-three sets to 15 points. How does that change your strategy?

CB: You have to be really aggressive with your serving. Most matches come down to one or two points, and those usually come from blocks, aces, or big digs. If you can get teams out of system or snag those aces, that’s huge. That’s something I’ve really focused on in the last year and a half, just how important the serve is in these quick games.

TST: Coming off the Olympics, how does playing a big event like this at Intuit Dome help you stay sharp and motivated for what’s next?

CB: After playing in the Olympics in front of 15,000 or 20,000 people under the Eiffel Tower, I don’t think anything is going to rattle me anymore. Those games were such high-stakes and nerve-wracking. That experience taught me to be calmer, to play more freely, and to be really mindful of my thoughts and my body. It made me a better player overall.

As Budinger gears up for the AVP League event at Intuit Dome, he’s bringing Olympic-tested poise and an NBA-level work ethic to the sand. Fans can expect fast-paced, high-stakes volleyball, with Budinger and the San Diego Smash ready to showcase their skills. 



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Water Polo Adds Maxson to Coaching Staff

Story Links HONOLULU — University of Hawai’i women’s water polo coach James Robinson completed the Rainbow Wahine coaching staff for the 2026 season with the addition of Brooke Maxson as an assistant coach. Maxson will join the UH staff after spending the last two seasons at UCLA, where she helped the Bruins […]

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HONOLULU — University of Hawai’i women’s water polo coach James Robinson completed the Rainbow Wahine coaching staff for the 2026 season with the addition of Brooke Maxson as an assistant coach.

Maxson will join the UH staff after spending the last two seasons at UCLA, where she helped the Bruins capture the 2024 national championship as an assistant coach.

“Brooke has had a positive impact on every team she’s been a part of, whether as a student-athlete or as a coach,” Robinson said. “She has experience at every level and I know that experience will be a huge benefit to our program. I’m very excited to have her on our staff. Her water polo knowledge is great and I know she will form excellent relationships with our student-athletes.”

Maxson joins Robinson and associate coach Candice Vorbeck in leading the Rainbow Wahine into the 2026 season. The ‘Bows went 22-5 this season, sweeping the Big West regular-season and tournament titles and advancing to the national semifinals in Robinson’s first year as head coach.

“Thank you to the University of Hawai’i Athletics Department and James for this opportunity,” Maxson said. “I am excited to support and learn from this talented group of athletes. It is an honor to be part of this program and I cannot wait to get started.”

Originally from Santa Ana, Calif., Maxson played five seasons at UCLA from 2017 to ’21 and earned ACWPC All-America and All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation recognition in 2019, ’20 and ’21 as a defender with the Bruins. She helped UCLA reach the 2021 National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship final and posted a hat trick in a semifinal win over Stanford on her way to a spot on the All-Tournament first team. In all, she played in 98 games and finished her UCLA career with 46 goals, 30 steals, 29 assists and 27 field blocks.

Maxson began her coaching career in 2021 at Golden West College where she served as an assistant coach with the women’s water polo and swimming and diving programs for two years. She spent 2023 teaching English at a high school in Madrid, Spain before returning to UCLA in 2024. The Bruins went 46-6 in her two seasons on the coaching staff, including an undefeated run to the 2024 national title.

#WahineWP



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Fired up: BYU women’s volleyball refining game during summer months | News, Sports, Jobs

1 / 2 BYU’s Claire Little Chambers, left, and Alex Bower celebrate a point during an exhibition match against Weber State on Friday, February 28, 2025. Ellie Alder/BYU Photo 2 / 2 BYU’s Claire Little Chambers takes a swing during an exhibition match against Weber State on Friday, February 28, 2025. Ellie Alder/BYU Photo ❮ […]

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1 / 2

BYU’s Claire Little Chambers, left, and Alex Bower celebrate a point during an exhibition match against Weber State on Friday, February 28, 2025.

Ellie Alder/BYU Photo

2 / 2

BYU’s Claire Little Chambers takes a swing during an exhibition match against Weber State on Friday, February 28, 2025.

Ellie Alder/BYU Photo


During the summer months, the Smith Fieldhouse stands are usually empty.

Far from the eyes of the roaring crowd and even their own coaching staff, the BYU women’s volleyball team enters the building looking for the fire.

And not just any fire. They are looking for the fire that will carry them through the regular season into the NCAA Tournament and beyond.

The Cougars have qualified for the tournament every year since 2012, but last season were swept in the first round by upstart Loyola-Chicago, their first opening round loss since 2005.

That’s why at 7:30 a.m. most mornings, BYU is battling each other and building momentum.

“When you come back for the report date, it’s time to get loose,” junior Claire Little Chambers said. “You remember why you love the sports. People don’t understand how long the season is because BYU is always in the tournament. Every year when you come back you’re so grateful. This is a program built on gratitude. You get to come to practice. You get to be here.

“It really all starts with summer practice. Every single girl who walks into that gym runs conditioning and lifts weights. We have the most competitive sixes matches, despite the coaches not being there. That’s where successful teams thrives is in the summer. The summer is so critical to the culture of the team. It builds unity and this is where we build that competitive fire.”

Little Chambers has had an eventful summer already, having gotten married to BYU men’s volleyball player Gavin Chambers in June.

It took a while for Claire and Gavin to get to the “meet cute” part of their courtship, even though they grew up about 40 minutes from each other in California (Claire in Temecula, Gavin in Corona) and both attended BYU. After some encouragement from her mother last fall and getting the stamp of approval when he attended a family dinner, the two were inseparable. They even trained together in California after the men’s volleyball season concluded in April.

After a lot of thought, Claire opted for “Claire Little Chambers.”

“The way I see it, I’ve made a name for myself as Claire Little,” she said. “So I wanted to make sure no one takes out the ‘Little’ part. On my jersey it will say ‘Little.’ I also wanted to respect my husband and his last name.”

Little Chambers led the Cougars last season with 427 kills (3.88 per set) while hitting .275 in 28 matches.

“I’m not a big goals person,” Little Chambers said. “I just like to see what each season will bring me. What I’m thinking is I’d just like to be consistent for my team, always showing up with fire and energy. I want to lead by example, do my thing and have fun doing it. I want to be there to hype up my teammates and I want to be present. I don’t need any amazing personal accomplishment to feel like the season is going to be great.”

BYU coach Heather Olmstead knows how important Little Chambers will be to a successful season.

“She’s definitely been developing her offensive toolbox,” Olmstead said. “She’s continuing to develop her back row play. We just want her to be able to hold up passing in the back row and have a six-rotation game. She’ll continue to be a great server and be a weapon out of the back row.”

The Cougars also return sophomore setter Alex Bower (10.01 assists per set), 6-foot-5 junior middle blocker Brielle Kemavor (1.47 blocks per set) and sophomore outside Eli Mortensen (2.71 kills per set). BYU has a strong contingent of defensive specialists/liberos as well, including sophomore Lulu Uluave (3.12 digs per set), senior Hannah Billeter (42 aces) and Washington State transfer Emma Barbero.

A strong recruiting class is led by 6-2 freshman Suli Davis from Euless, Texas. The 2025 PrepVolleyball Player of the Year and Under Armor All-American had a whopping 800 kills her senior season at Colleyville Heritage High School. Davis has been starring for the United State U19 team this summer, recently competing in the 2025 Worlds in Croatia.

“Suli is such a competitor,” Little Chambers said. “That girl just wants to win and will do anything to do that. She’s always in the gym and always getting extra reps. She has very high goals. She’s going to be great and people need to watch out for her because she wants it so bad.

“What really separates the best from the good is that drive. She has such high motivation. Players like that come in and change programs. I’m excited to see what she’ll bring to BYU.”

The Cougars report for team practices at the end of July and open the season with an exhibition match against Idaho State at Ogden High School in Aug. 23. BYU officially opens the 2025 season by hosting the doTERRA Classic with High Point, Farleigh Dickinson and Central Michigan beginning Aug. 29.

“I’m really excited to see this team grow in the aspect of being consistent and being able to fail gracefully,” Little Chambers said. “Last season we had a lot of five-setters and games where we got down early, so I’d love to see this team start strong.

“It’s just a year of opportunity. Everyone is going to get a shot and everyone is going to get a chance to prove themselves. I feel like we have a deep bench and a deep team. I have a good feeling about this team. We’ve always known that something about BYU is it’s greater than just a sport. At the end of of the day if you just sucked at practice, you’re still a daughter of God and its going to be OK. That unites the team. We’re excited with our talent to see how we can fight and compete.”

Copyright © 2025 Ogden Newspapers of Utah, LLC | www.heraldextra.com | 1200 Towne Centre Blvd. STE 1058, Provo, UT 84601



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LBHS Sports Update: Week of July 11 | Sports

SUMMER PROGRAMS: Many July opportunities Laguna Beach High School’s summer athletics programs are in full swing, with July sessions including boys beach volleyball (grades 9–12) scheduled the week of July 14. Ongoing training is also underway for baseball, cross country, and football. Program schedules and contact information for girls soccer, girls volleyball, girls lacrosse, and […]

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SUMMER PROGRAMS: Many July opportunities

Laguna Beach High School’s summer athletics programs are in full swing, with July sessions including boys beach volleyball (grades 9–12) scheduled the week of July 14. Ongoing training is also underway for baseball, cross country, and football. Program schedules and contact information for girls soccer, girls volleyball, girls lacrosse, and flag football are available on the school’s summer athletics website at lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics/summer-programs.

Guyer Field Turf Replacement

The turf at Guyer Field is being replaced this summer and should be ready by the end of July. Laguna first played football on artificial turf in 2000, with Guyer Field going artificial in 2004. Breakers have played on grass only once since 2020, with the all-weather turf now the standard in Southern California.

Basketball Update:

Boys are in the Newport tournament this weekend. The “Battle of the Beach” summer high school tournament is on Friday through Sunday, July 18-20, at Dugger Gym. There are 12 games on Friday, 13 on Saturday and 12 on Sunday, starting at 8 a.m. Laguna’s girls’ team will participate in the El Toro Summer Tournament from July 25-27.

FALL 2025 SPORTS

Countdown to the start of the 2025-2026 sports season!

Girls Volleyball: Aug. 2: at Queens Court Tournament

Flag Football: Aug. 12 at Loara

Football: Aug. 21 at Chino (Thursday)

XCC: Aug. 30 at Saddleback Cup/Trabuco Hills HS

Boys WP: Aug. 26 at Aliso Niguel

Have a note on Laguna Beach High School sports? E-mail Frank at frank@twometer.net

2025 High School FALL SCHEDULES? Check Laguna Beach High School on the Max Preps website or

the schedules tab on the Athletics website at https://lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics/schedules. To get scores on the school site – select the sport and level, click year and move the “Show older events” toggle under the selected season.



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Sarah Franklin shares how Badgers volleyball is different than rest of country, world

Sarah Franklin has seen the different forms of volleyball culture all over the country, and now, the world. But to her, there’s something different about how they do it at Wisconsin. Franklin grew up playing in Florida and started her collegiate career at Michigan State before transferring to the Badgers. Now, she’s playing internationally in […]

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Sarah Franklin has seen the different forms of volleyball culture all over the country, and now, the world.

But to her, there’s something different about how they do it at Wisconsin.

Franklin grew up playing in Florida and started her collegiate career at Michigan State before transferring to the Badgers.

Now, she’s playing internationally in the Volleyball Nations League for Team USA and taking the lessons she learned in Madison to the global stage.

“In Wisconsin, I feel like there were even more people than in Florida, because in Florida you have beach volleyball and all these other sports that you can do outside,” Franklin said on The USA Volleyball Show. “But once we got to Wisconsin, I felt like there were so many girls who were so invested into volleyball because they would get into it so young and just kind of go on it and there was a lot of high level clubs around there.”

For Franklin, the transition to Wisconsin was about taking her game to the next level.

She knew that playing for coach Kelly Sheffield would raise the bar and help her ascend to the international stage she’s playing on now.

“After I got to Wisconsin, I was like, ‘Woah, I feel like I have not been in this kind of top level and expected to do things, ever,'” Franklin said. “I’ve always been the underdog team that’s had to fight for that.”

On Team USA in the Volleyball Nations League, she’s getting the chance to play alongside another Badgers legend in Dana Rettke.

Rettke graduated from Madison before she transferred in, but the 2021 National Champion was someone Franklin looked up to.

“Coming from the Badgers, she knows what the differences are a little bit more than anyone else,” Franklin said. “Wisconsin does things very specifically, and getting to understand that from Dana’s perspective has been golden. I can’t wait to apply that when I do get overseas.”

Franklin is making the jump to professional volleyball overseas this upcoming season, signing with Savino Del Bene Scandicci in Italy.

The Volleyball Nation League tournament play continues through July 27.





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