About

At Volleyball Zen our mission is to promote the volleyball lifestyle! If you’ve ever experienced the zen of volleyball, then you know what we’re talking about. If you haven’t, then you’re probably at the wrong web site.

The yin and yang symbol represents the concept of opposites that complement and even enhance each other. In the martial arts, it’s the “hard” and “soft” methods of the art.

There are many yin-and-yang-like aspects of volleyball. The indoor game versus the outdoor game. The hard court contrasted with the soft sand. The roles and positions of sixes versus the all-around play of doubles. The differences between the men’s game, the women’s game, and the coed game. West coast versus Midwest versus East coast.

If you don’t know what we’re talking about, then you may be missing out on entire dimensions of this 100-year-old American-made game. Indoor volleyball skills are enhanced by outdoor doubles play, and vice versa. Playing in sand strengthens leg muscles that help increase vertical leaps for hard court play. And varying between seasons of indoor sixes and outdoor doubles helps avoid the repeated pounding on the knees and ankles. It’s also nice to work on your tan with the outdoor game!

We developed our logo to represent the duality of volleyball. And we hope you like our shirts. Let us know what you think!

From our founder:

I started Volleyball Zen with the simple goal of promoting volleyball through t-shirts and other merchandise. I love volleyball, and I love telling people about volleyball. It’s all about the love. And the t-shirts!

I began playing organized volleyball in 8th grade, simply to kill some time between basketball and baseball seasons. It wasn’t until 10th grade that I realized that this was not just a girls’ sport. I was fortunate that my high school in northwestern Pennsylvania had junior high and varsity programs for boys. And serious ones at that. Not being recruited for either football or volleyball, I played volleyball for the club team while at Penn State, and cheered on the nationally-ranked men’s and women’s teams. After college, I continued playing in the USVBA (and then the USAV) and some local leagues for six months of the year, and sand and grass doubles for the warmer months in the northeastern US.

Now that my kids are old enough to pepper and to start learning the game, I’m concentrating on raising the next generation of players. I hope that Volleyball Zen can help increase the popularity of volleyball in the US. You can help too. Buy a VBZ shirt. Share the love!

Incidentally, I use the term “zen” in a loose, non-religious way. I’m actually a follower of Jesus. But I love the look of the yin and yang symbol, and the opposing complementary forces that it represents.

Brian O’Keefe, Volleyballogist