Scheels Gift Sets Up Meredith Volleyball Program
Students at Meredith Middle School will now have the opportunity to compete in a volleyball league thanks to a generous donation from Scheels in West Des Moines. The sporting goods company recently donated $6,000 ($2,000 annually over the next 3 years) to launch a Meredith AAU volleyball program. Currently the team consists of 15 girls, now in 5th and 6th grade, who will attend Meredith in the fall.
The inaugural season for Meredith volleyball started January 5th and the squad has competed in 2 weeks of scheduled games. The program got off to a hot start by claiming its first victories with wins over Pella, Urbandale, and crosstown rival Roosevelt. Program coordinator Benjamin Hurley said the Meredith girls are excited for the future of the program and are already showing tremendous growth as a team.
“We still have a long way to go compared to other programs, but everyone has been supportive, knowing it takes something like this to compete at the high school level,” Hurley remarked.
The goal for the 2025-2026 school year is to expand the program to include 3 teams, 13u, 12u, and 11u (totaling over 30 student athletes). Without this contribution from Scheels, many of the players on the Meredith team would not have played this season due to financial reasons or lack of available programming.
Des Moines Public Schools would like to extend a big thank you to Scheels for helping to make this new volleyball program possible.