Endless Momentum Volleyball Club formed in 2019 with only one team, 8 girls, and a dream. The club director, Nicole Wentz, brought her enthusiasm and passion for volleyball to an area that didn’t have much history in volleyball. The local Recreation League had grown to the point where several families were ready for travel volleyball, especially at the middle school ages.
In the first year, the club fielded a 12U team with 8 girls. Since 2019, and after a halt due to the Coronavirus pandemic, EndMo steadily grew year after year. In 2022, Endless Momentum grew by 400% and formed eight teams, including two boys teams (14U and 18U). The passion for volleyball started to spark with the players and the parents! Between last year and this year, two parents from the club rallied their communities together to convince their local school districts to create a volleyball program at their schools. One district created two teams to start in 2022 and the other district approved volleyball for next year.
This expansion into the communities has allowed EndMo to find passionate students in Title 1 (low income) schools and give them a chance to play for their travel team when they otherwise would have never been afforded the opportunity for lack of knowledge of a team and lack of funds to pay for it. Today the club has athletes participating from 7 counties and 14 school districts. Because of the passion Nicole brought to the club, and the club brought to its players and parents, the trajectory of these students/players lives have changed and can continue to change as the future opens up for them.
“We are continuing to grow based on the goals that our athletes learn, develop, are challenged, and love the sport of volleyball,” says Wentz.” We believe that every athlete that wants to play volleyball should have the opportunity to play regardless of family income.”
Endless Momentum, utilizes several fundraisers to offset the costs for their families, as well as raise money for the club to purchase training equipment and cover additional tournaments. These include a Yeti Cooler raffle, a PS5 raffle, shoe drives and a SuperBowl fundraiser. Athletes can sell chocolate for Gertrude Hawk, sell mums, wreaths and spring flowers, and work with the company Sporfie to sell business sponsorships. The club uses Sporfie to live stream all of the club tournament matches at no cost to the viewer, and local businesses have the opportunity to purchase ad space on the stream. Over 70% of the money raised goes directly to the athlete’s club dues. Finally, the club utilizes RaiseRight as a way for their families to earn money towards their club dues through gift card purchases.
In addition, EndMo offers tryout scholarships to inner-city youth in the City of Scranton. If a child attends an inner city school district his or her tryout fee is waived. Also, the club is applying for grants and asking local businesses to aid in starting a scholarship fund for its inner city, and low-economic rural athletes.
If you are interested in donating to the Endless Momentum’s inner-city scholarship fund CLICK HERE.
EndMo not only has a passionate club director, but passionate coaches as well. The coach of last year’s 12U team, Chris Krempasky, won the 2022 Positive Coaching Alliance’s Double-Goal Coach Award.
“Her positive coaching is one of the reasons volleyball is expanding in the Scranton area because she builds up that same passion in her players. Those girls tell their friends about the wonders of volleyball, and it creates more of an interest in the sport,” shares Kristina Aniska, a parent of an athlete in the club.
Coaching education is of the utmost value to the club. EndMo coaches are offered the opportunity to attend the AVCA Convention, Gold Medal Squared Clinics, Art of Coaching Volleyball Clinics or any other credible online coaching course with full reimbursement. Wentz attended the AVCA Convention, focusing primarily on the JVA Club Management Track.
“We organize our club by having a master coach at every practice, and creating the practice plans in advance for all of our teams, with opportunities for the club coaches to tweak as needed. We also have weekly coaching sessions to discuss the latest education in the sport, and give coaches an opportunity to share what they are struggling with as well,” adds Wentz.
The club has expanded even more than last year and is fortunately trending upwards every year with enrollment. The club is attracting players from a variety of areas, expanding this year into two additional areas which they have not previously had players. In the summer of 2023, the club will offer middle school and high school camps, as well as add a grass/beach program, where athletes will practice twice a week, and then compete in local grass or beach tournaments on the weekend.
“Additionally, we are hoping to work with a few other non-profit agencies to continue to grow and promote boys volleyball and offer additional exposure to our inner city youth via free clinics and camps.”
EndMo created Volleystars, a less competitive group to spark an interest in volleyball in players who don’t have experience or want to try the sport. Volleystars is an introductory program to help kids in 4th-6th grade learn and develop at their own pace.
“Endless Momentum is very committed to expanding upon their established passion of volleyball throughout our community and surrounding areas. We hope years from now, the sport grows ten fold, to a point at which the rest of the country appreciates volleyball. This is just one small step for this continually evolving club and for the future of volleyball in Northeast Pennsylvania.”
Endless Momentum Volleyball Club (Clarks Summit, PA) is a member of the Junior Volleyball Association, an organization committed to enhancing the junior volleyball experience for club directors, coaches, players, and fans.
For more information about joining the JVA click HERE. For more information about JVA Awards click HERE. To nominate your club for JVA Club of the Month click HERE.
