At LOVB, designing a “community-up” volleyball ecosystem, from youth teams to a professional league. (photo by Melissa Golden)

Volleyball is the number-one sport for girls in the United States by participation, yet unlike soccer and basketball, it hasn’t had an established pro league. As cofounder and CEO of League One Volleyball (LOVB), Katlyn Gao (MBA 2007) is changing that by designing a volleyball ecosystem from scratch. Alongside an established network of youth clubs overseen by COO Kim (Hyde) Kitchens (MBA 2008), LOVB has signed an impressive roster of American and international players to launch a six-team professional league in January, with games broadcasted on ESPN.

“We intentionally designed this league to be community-up,” notes Gao, who has worked at numerous retail brands, including Lululemon, where she saw the brand-building power of community. In the same vein, LOVB is creating a direct connection between its clubs and pro league, emphasizing the character-building aspect of team sports: “We want to help make great human beings, not just great athletes,” says Kitchens. It’s not unusual for club players to practice at the same facility as the pros; in addition, the LOVB Foundation is committed to making the sport financially accessible to all.

Gao is also banking on the grace, nonstop action, and agility that make volleyball such an exciting sport to watch. “Fifty-plus years of Title IX has created a female-dominant game where no one compares the women’s game to its male equivalent. That’s an amazing place to start from, to take the sport to the level of visibility and awareness that it deserves.”

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