2025: BADGER REGION'S YEAR IN REVIEW | Badger Region Volleyball Association

A LOOK BACK AT 2025: FROM THE BADGER REGION

What an amazing year it was in the world of Badger Region / USA Volleyball in the Badger Region. While we wrap up a great 2025, we can’t wait to start all of our great programming and events that will define 2026.

January

Jan. 11-12: Badger Region Power League kicks off its fifth year at locations around the state. The debut of the Badger Region Power League Watch List also is made.
Jan. 14: The Badger Region hosts a Lunch & Learn focused on Team Building with Brian Kenney and Team Extreme – a new partner of the Region
Jan. 15: Girls youth clinic held at the Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh
Jan. 17: Badger Boys Series celebrates its 11th year in a row offering competition for boys ages 13 and under and new referee training

February

Feb. 8-9: Second weekend of Badger Region Power League. Winners included Wisconsin Juniors 17-1, Wisconsin Juniors 15-1 and I AM 14-Red
Feb. 10: Initial meeting for the Badger Region Coaches Cohort, created to provide support and resources to new and beginner coaches. Other meetings were held April 6 and May 4.
Feb. 12: Badger Region Board of Directors Meeting.
Feb. 16: Badger Region came together to support the Murphy Family from Madtown Volleyball Club injured on their drive home from a Presidents Day tournament.
Feb. 17: Badger Region announces the addition of Alex Phan (communication coordinator) and Micaela Encarnacion (operations coordinator) to its staff
Feb. 19: Lunch & Learn with the Badger Region focused on the High-Performance All-Star program that began with tryouts later that week.
Feb. 21: Badger Region hosts a Milwaukee Dive vs. Sweed men’s VLA at the Baird Center.
Feb. 22-23: Dale Rohde Memorial Boys Volleyball Tournament with 150 teams at the Baird Center in conjunction with the Milwaukee Auto Show

March

Feb. 28: First night of Badger Region High Performance All-Star teams
March 1-2: Badger Region Qualifier at the Baird Center in Milwaukee
March 14: Second night of Badger Region High Performance All-Star teams
March 15-16: First weekend of the Badger Region Championships for girls 12s, 13s, 14s, 17s and 18s. Each weekend of the event was an opportunity to donate to the Bryon Riesch Paralysis Foundation in honor of former Badger Region athlete Nate Higgins
March 21: Third night of Badger Region High Performance All-Star teams
March 22-23: Second weekend of the Badger Region Championships held in Milwaukee at the Baird Center for Boys, girls 10s, girls 15 and girls 16s.
March 25: Badger Region night at Concordia Wisconsin for the men’s volleyball game

April

April 2: Boys youth clinic at Concordia University Wisconsin
April 4-5: Wisconsin Volleyball Championships (college club) held at the Milwaukee Sting Center
April 5-6: Final weekend of the Badger Region Power League and the announcement of the third annual Badger Region Power League All-League Teams. Winners included 414 Milwaukee Elite 17-Blue, Eclipse 16-Solar, 608 Juniors 15-Select, JAG VBC 14-Red National, OVBC 14-Purple and I AM VBC 12-Red
April 7: Badger Region officials who advanced to regional certification: Monica Wang and Amy Grycowski
April 19: UW-Eau Claire beats UW-La Crosse in the championships of the NCVF (college club) tournament in Phoenix, Ariz.
April 26-28: Sixteen Badger Region teams competed at the 2025 Girls National Championships 18-and-under championships in Salt Lake City, Utah. Wisconsin Juniors 18-1s brought home silver medal in 18-Liberty Division.
April 26-27: Art of Coaching Volleyball clinic held at Marquette University that featured coaches including Russ Rose, Tom Medoza, Amada Berkley, Marie Zidek, Mike Schall and Terry Liskevych.

May

May 3: Badger Region Adult Championships at new Athletic Performance Center in Cedarburg. The men’s division was won by Team Core.
May 14: Badger Region Board of Directors meeting
May 16: Incumbents Scott Blackmon, Bonnie Stalker, Amy Daley and Holly Jablonowski earn re-election in the Badger Region Board of Directors election.
May 17-22: Staff attends USA Volleyball’s Regional Volleyball Association, Junior Assembly and Officials Assembly meetings in Denver, Colo.
May 19: Fifteen athletes named Badger Region scholarship recipients. Two additional athletes named Frisco Mo scholarship winners for community service. Three additional winners were named Fine Designs scholarship recipients.
May 23-28: Eight Badger Region Adult Teams compete at Nationals in Denver, Colo. MKE Phantoms won the Men’s B Championship on May 25. Team Core finished third.
May 29: May Kapalko earns National Scorer status as an official

June

June 2: Badger Region announces sixth annual Badger Region Coach of the Year and Club Director of the Year awards (Winners: Marissa Lambe, Mike Kopesky, David Galewski, Arianna Neymeyer, Chad & Stacie Kuck, Cullen Liberski, Shelly Johnson, Peter Jokinen, Austin Cass and Jarrod Luedtke)
June 3: Badger Region hosts a Lunch & Learn focused on recruiting with Curtis Madson (Concordia Wisconsin) and Leigh Barea (UW-Parkside) heading into the National Tournament season.
June 17: Badger Region hosts a boys beach volleyball clinic at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee with the support of Tomas Goldsmith, owner of Volley-Life.
June 21-24: Seventeen Badger Region teams compete at the Girls 11-13s Junior National Championships in Kansas City. I AM VBC 13-Red brought home the silver medal in 13 Patriot. FC Elite 13-Navy won the bronze medal in the 13-Patriot Division.
June 25-29: Volleyball Nations League comes to the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., featuring the Men’s National Team.
June 25-July 3: Forty-three Badger Region teams compete at the Girls 14-17s Junior National Championships in Dallas, Texas. MKE Sting 17-White won the bronze medal in the 17-Liberty Division.

July

July 1-13: Badger Region offers “Retention Period” for clubs and athletes who played during the 2023-24 season
July 5: Patrick Collar earns his Junior National official certification at Girls Junior Nationals in Dallas, Texas
July 9: Badger Region hosts a pair of clinics and an open house prior to the summer tryout period at Brookfield Central High School
July 9: Badger Region hosts a girls beach volleyball clinic at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee with the support of Tomas Goldsmith, owner of Volley-Life.
July 14-15: Badger Region Girls and Boys High Performance All-Star Camp takes place at Lakeland University
July 19: The Badger Region allows summer tryouts to take place.
July 24-27: Badger Region hosts the USA Volleyball All-Star Championships in Madison, Wis., featuring 100 All-Star teams from around the country. The program came home with three medals and five Top 5 finishes. The program finished fourth overall in the chase for the Region Cup with a record of 32-16.

August

Aug. 2: The Badger Region returns to Bradford Beach in Milwaukee for the Badger Region Beach Championships
Aug. 2: Badger Region hosts coaching clinic at St. Marcus School in Milwaukee
Aug. 11: USA Volleyball announces new rules going into effect for 2025-26 (double contact, liberos, screening and substitutions)
Aug. 24: Directors came together in Black River Falls for the annual Club Director and Tournament Director meeting hosted by the Region
Aug. 27: Badger Region hosts a Player/Coach Clinic for middle school coaches at the New Berlin SportsPlex

September

Sept. 1: Badger Region finishes the 2024-25 season with 18,137 full members and 21,238 total members (those who had partial memberships such as a tryout membership or a League membership)
Sept. 1: Badger Region/USA Volleyball begin their 2025-26 membership season.
Sept. 1: The Badger Region partners again with Frisco Mo to highlight boys high school volleyball better than it ever has in years past. The Region and Frisco Mo sponsored the weekly Top 10 coaches poll as well as all the awards, plaques and honors associated with the boys being named All-State.
Sept. 14: Badger Region Board of Directors meeting
Sept. 17: Fiserv Forum hosts Marquette vs. Wisconsin in women’s NCAA volleyball
Sept. 18: Lunch & Learn featuring Mark Horbinksi from Won80 Sportsmanship
Sept. 21: JustAGame hosts a free Try Volleyball clinic for youths as part of the national Try Volleyball initiative

October

Oct. 1: Badger Region renews its partnership with Art of Coaching Volleyball which offers 350 free premium memberships to Badger Region coaches.
Oct 4: Tryouts begin for athletes 14-and-under
Oct. 6: USA Volleyball and Badger Region announce Body Confident initiative
Oct. 8: The AVCA announces that former Badger Region executive director Jenny Hahn will be inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame
Oct. 9: The Badger Region runs its Second-Chance Tryout & Clinic at the New Berlin SportsPlex for athletes 14U who did not make a club during the tryout periods
Oct. 10-12: Staff attends USA Volleyball’s Regional Volleyball Association, Junior Assembly and Officials Assembly meetings in Denver, Colo.
Oct. 15: Jake Jurney (Lakeland University men’s and women’s volleyball assistant coach) is appointed to the Badger Region Board of Directors
Oct. 22: Chad Kuck (Milwaukee Sting) named AVCA Girls 15s National Coach of the Year
Oct. 25: Executive Director Jennifer Armson-Dyer wins President Award from the International Volleyball Hall of Fame
Oct. 26-Nov. 8: Athletes Unlimited comes to Madison for two weeks of competition.

November

Nov. 3: Shel DeLisle and Nikki Tupesis win the AVCA / US Marines Battles Won Awards
Nov. 4: Badger Region announces its official partnership with Acai Super Bowls
Nov. 5: Badger Region Board of Directors Meeting. There, lots of decisions were made regarding the future of tryouts in the Badger Region.
Nov. 7: The Badger Region hosts its second annual Coaching Forum in conjunction with the WIAA Boys & Girls State High School Volleyball at Stadium View Events Center in Green Bay. Coaches included JW Kieckhefer, Jeff Van Lannen and Meghan Keck
Nov. 9-10: Badger Region attends and presents at the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association conference in Wisconsin Dells bringing awareness to officiating and boys volleyball growth
Nov. 11: Badger Region hosts a Lunch & Learn with renowned author and speaker Jen Fry
Nov. 15: Fall tryouts open for high school athletes.
Nov. 20: The Badger Region runs its Second-Chance Tryout & Clinic at the OAW Sports Complex for athletes 15-and older who did not make a club during the tryout period
Nov. 24: Badger Region hosts an in-person officials meeting Thunder Bay Grille in Pewaukee with keynote speaker Brian Kenney from Team Extreme
Nov. 26: Badger Region extends its partnership with Molten as the official game ball of the organization.
Nov. 29: The Milwaukee Bucks and the Badger Region partner for a Volleyball Night at Fiserv Forum.

December

Dec. 5: The Badger Boys Series begins for the 2024-25 season at the Milwaukee Sting Center.
Dec. 6: The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh women’s volleyball team wins the NCAA Div. III Championship in Bloomington, Ill.
Dec. 15: Badger Region hosts an online Lunch & Learn bringing attention to USA Deaf Volleyball
Dec. 17: Alex Phan earns AVCA T.E.A.M. (Togetherness, Empowerment, Accessibility and Mentoring) award at the AVCA convention.

Other programs and events that happened en masse:

Eight sportsmanship seminars with Won80 owner/founder Mark Horbinski
Four Coaches Coaching Coaches (3C) education events led by Director of Education Scott Spiess
Two high school grants handed out to schools who added boys programs this year (Hmong American Peace, Burlington Catholic Central)
Three boys club volleyball grants handed out to clubs looking to start boys volleyball (Milwaukee Juniors, Olympic Edge VBC, Up North Juniors)
Five individuals (athletes, coaches and officials) honored with Badger Region “Caught Doing Good” sportsmanship award

Thank you to our athletes, families, coaches, officials, partners, clubs, staff, and volunteers who made 2025 possible. Your passion, support, and commitment are what continue to grow the game and make the Badger Region such a special community. We’re grateful for all you do and can’t wait to build what’s next—together.

Badger News

2025: BADGER REGION’S YEAR IN REVIEW