The 26-year long battle to obtain sanctioning status for Colorado boys’ volleyball has officially come to an end.

Starting spring 2021, boys’ volleyball will officially be an accredited sport in Colorado after more than two decades of work by the Colorado Boys’ High School Volleyball Association.

“There’s a lot of relief throughout the program,” said Mike Prusinowski, the athletic director at James Irwin and the president of the CBHSVA. “It’s been a long road presenting to all of the different committees but we’ve already seen about a 33% growth from last year.”

Boys’ volleyball is one of three sports officially approved for sanctioning by the Colorado High School Activities Association legislative council Wednesday in Denver. Unified bowling and girls’ wrestling were also approved, marking the first new sports added to Colorado high schools since boys’ lacrosse was sanctioned in 1998.

“The whole purpose of the (CBHSVA) was to see today happen and to give kids as many opportunities as we can,” Prusinowski said. “With all three of the new programs, volleyball, unified bowling and girls’ wrestling, we are doing that. The representatives from the three groups are excited to see all the work come together.”

According to a release by CHSAANow.com, each sport had to gain approval from the Classification, League Organization and Appeals Committee, the Equity Committee, the Sports Medicine Committee, and the board of directors. The committee’s approvals allowed for a legislative council vote on new membership.

In addition to approval from various committees, each sport needed to complete a pilot program. The 2019 season marked the fourth sanctioning attempt for boys’ volleyball, which had been shot down three times prior.

The Vanguard School has won three straight Class 3A boys’ volleyball state championships, while three other local programs have won state titles dating back to 2012. Last year the Pikes Peak region had 12 teams, but the number jumped to 21 in the 2019 season.

According to the CBHSVA website in 2018 there were 60 teams from 40 high schools competing, with more than 700 athletes. Since the pilot program was approved, the state added 20 more teams with 80 in competition and more than 1,000 athletes in 2019.

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Girls’ wrestling saw a successful pilot season with more than 70 female wrestlers from 47 schools competing in the 2019 Colorado Girls’ Wrestling Championships. It was the sport’s first as a pilot program and first state tournament in which athletes were required to qualify. As a club program, the girls’ wrestling state championships were invitational-style tournaments.

Girls wrestling

Vista Ridge wrestlers Grace Lee, left, Angel Norman, Bella Mitchell and Kai Morrison stand beside the mat Saturday during the Vista Ridge High School tourney in Colorado Springs.

The Pikes Peak region had five local placers, and one area state champion — Vista Ridge junior Bella Mitchell.

Special Olympics Unified Bowling has seen participation from Colorado schools since 1996, according to the program’s pilot sport presentation documents submitted to the CHSAA equity committee in January. The document states that the sport has grown from 150 to more than 750 athletes in the last five years with 32 high schools in Colorado offering the program. Vista Ridge is the lone Pikes Peak-region school with unified bowling.

With CHSAA in the first year of its two-year cycle, each of the new sanctioned sports will remain under control of their current association until CHSAA will take over in 2020-21. Prusinowski said boys’ volleyball will see slight changes in the next year in an attempt to prepare teams for CHSAA regulations.

“We’re hoping to set the season up a bit more like the girls to give the boys a look at what it’s going to be like under CHSAA,” Prusinowski said. “I have heard from athletic directors that have said they would get in if it is approved, so we are expecting new schools to get involved next year to get ready for first CHSAA season.”