Chair volleyball team gives area seniors an opportunity for fun, exercise

by Martin McConnell

The Broadview Heights recreation department’s chair volleyball program is back in action and is now picking up steam after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Broadview Heights Director of Human Services Kathy Rush-Parsson has been organizing chair volleyball meets every Thursday at 11 a.m. since the spring. She mentioned that the games have added a few more people since this past spring, but are not up to pre-pandemic levels.

“Before COVID, they had a really large group in there, probably between 15-20 people,” Rush-Parsson said. “Activities ceased during COVID and chair volleyball wasn’t one of the ones to start back with.”

Chair volleyball is played with a lowered net and uses a beach ball rather than a full-speed volleyball. For the seniors in Broadview Heights, the activity can be a good form of exercise and socialization.

“It’s chair volleyball, so they don’t have to stand,” Rush-Parsson said. “So for any of the seniors where maybe mobility or balance is an issue, it’s a nice compromise for them as far as physical activity.”

Rush-Parsson herself has tried playing, and noted that the game can be surprisingly difficult, even for younger players. As a seated form of physical activity, there can be a surprising amount of movement.

“One of the rules of chair volleyball is that you have to stay in your chair,” Rush-Parsson explained. “You’d be surprised how difficult that is. Your instinct is to jump or get out of your chair. Every time you do that, now you’ve lost the ball, and they say ‘Kathy, you’re killing us over here.’”

Rush-Parsson has high hopes for the future of chair volleyball in Broadview Heights. In addition to gaining more people at each meet, she said the district is exploring the possibility of playing other teams from other recreation centers throughout greater Cleveland.

“If we get enough people who like to play chair volleyball, [I’d like to] do a volleyball tournament,” Rush-Parsson said. “I’d also like to play other cities. Seven Hills does it at their rec center, and when I was at Garfield all those years, we did it.”

The momentum of chair volleyball in Broadview Heights may have taken a hit due to the pandemic, but the hope is that more and more seniors will be willing to play in the new future.

“I would rather have chair volleyball that maybe only 11 or 12 people right now are enjoying, and maybe three months from now it’ll be 25 people,” Rush-Parsson said. “I don’t give up easily. When something is taking a little time to catch on, that’s okay.” ∞