When Coach Danny Soto, founder of Valley Heat Volleyball Club, was in middle school, he tried out for his school’s track team but he was not chosen.  He still remembers the sadness of not making the team. “I developed late,” said Soto, who ended up going to state in track by the time he was a senior in high school. “But I still remember the hurt of not making the team in middle school.”

Now, Soto is providing young girls the opportunity to train vigorously in the off-season,

giving them a better chance to make their school teams. Those opportunities were not available when he was in school.

Volleyball, and the business of volleyball, in South Texas is exploding. Sixteen years ago, when Valley Heat began, there was only one other volleyball club. Now, there are more than a dozen clubs in the Rio Grande Valley. Many of them travel all over Texas and beyond to compete during the non-school season, usually from December to June.

“I took one of my daughters to the only volleyball club there was back then,” he said. “I saw the difference the extra training made in my daughter. Plus the experience of traveling to Austin and San Antonio and competing against those players really motivated us to train harder.”

Valley Heat Volleyball Academy is open all year. Families can inquire about volleyball training and trying out for any of his travel teams. Travel team participation is open to fourth-graders to high school juniors. There are also training sessions for those who don’t want to travel.

Training sessions cost $50 per month, and players can train at least three times a week. Training sessions are broken down by skill level. His youngest group is mostly second-graders. High school players are welcomed during the off season.

“It seems you have to start training at a younger and younger age each year,” said Soto, whose training facility is located at 405 W. Owassa in Edinburg. “Many parents can’t believe it when they see their second- or third-grader performing the bump, set and spike in practice and games. Kids are amazing. They will do it if you teach them correctly. And I know how to teach them well.”

His office is adorned with past team and player photos and filled with trophies and medals earned in local and state-wide tournaments. “I am glad to see more opportunities for our girls in the Valley to continue their dream and get scholarships to play in college. It used to be that most people thought that the Rio Grande Valley would only produce great cross country and soccer players but we’ve had some quality volleyball players go to college to play and continue their education.”

There’s nothing scientific but the explosion of these volleyball programs, and the increased level of success in middle schools and high schools seem to run hand-in-hand. As an example, Fossum Middle School and Morris Middle School in McAllen started the season with 8-0 records. There are seven girls on various club teams who play for Morris and six who play for Fossum. There are at least six Valley Heat girls represented on those two squads and that’s just in the seventh grade.

“The playing field across the board has leveled out,” said Mike Carter, director of the Alamo Volleyball Club in San Antonio and coach of the San Antonio Reagan girls volleyball team. Carter has been with the program for 21 years. “We are seeing a higher level across the board. We (San Antonio Reagan) just went down there and played with McAllen’s Nikki Rowe and Laredo Alexander. Not too long ago, they wouldn’t have played that level. Now they are competing.”

Along the entryway at the Valley Heat Academy facility are photos of several different Valley Heat teams. Many of the girls grow up in those photos. Soto says it is his passion to coach and help as many athletes that come and give him the opportunity to teach them.

“I can see the potential in these kids,” said Soto, whose daughter Jennifer Taliancich is the head coach at Harlingen South High School. “Even the ones who take a little longer to develop, you don’t give up on them. What parents have to understand is that every girl is different and you have to let their kids be kids and not put so much pressure on them:  let them develop. With hard work and effort, they will succeed.”

For information on Valley Heat Volleyball Academy or travel teams, contact Soto at 271-2203. 

Story by Henry Miller also appears in the October 2016 edition of Valley Business Report.