Fall 2011 Preview: Levittown District Boys Volleyball

Many student-athletes have enough talent to play multiple sports at the high school level. This year's Levittown District volleyball team, however, is taking the idea of a "multi-sport athlete" to a new level.

In an effort to make teams eligible for State championships, Nassau County shifted the boys volleyball season from the spring to the fall in 2010. That shift spelled several problems for Levittown head coach Dennis Gorman; he is an assistant on the MacArthur football staff, and a significant portion of his volleyball players are also football players.

"When it was in the spring, we had 40 kids on the team with a JV," Gorman said. "It worked out where the kids that didn't play baseball or lacrosse played volleyball, and it worked out well where I got football players to come out and stay in shape."

With football and soccer to compete with, though, numbers were way down. Luckily for Gorman, the MacArthur football head coach allowed some of his players to play both sports.

"I wouldn't have enough kids if the football kids didn't play," Gorman said. "Coach Fehrenbach has been very gracious to let this kids [play]. There are five football players out there, and they'll be starters."

Gorman was able to get fourteen players to play on the team this year. It's down from the 40 he used to get, but what makes life a little easier for Gorman is that 13 of the 14 players on the team are from MacArthur, which is where he teaches.

"We only have one kid from Division Avenue," he said. "Only one kid came out. So it's 13-to-1 MacArthur to Division, which makes it a little easier to communicate."

The team returns two All-County players in outside hitter Kevin Roach and setter Chris Pappas. The team was 5-7 a year ago, but Gorman has faith in his team's chances to improve on that record and get closer to the winning records they used to have in the spring. (They started off strong, beating Carey High School three sets to one in their opening match on September 8.)

"I've had the team three years," Gorman said. "We've had a winning record, we've been competitive. If everybody stays healthy, we could be pretty good."