{"id":3900,"date":"2026-08-15T09:40:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T09:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3900"},"modified":"2026-08-15T09:40:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T09:40:36","slug":"inside-the-world-of-competitive-amish-volleyball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3900","title":{"rendered":"Inside the world of competitive Amish volleyball"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>INTERCOURSE, Pa. \u2014 A young Amish woman stood barefoot in the back right corner of a grassy volleyball court, spinning a ball in her hands.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3898\">2 men wounded in separate North Philly shootings<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>She wore a simple green dress with a black apron, and when she leapt and hammered a serve over the net with a grunt, her prayer covering looked as white as the passing clouds. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>On this beautiful afternoon in late June, the coed competitors were among the hundreds of young Amish players from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other states who converged on Intercourse Community Park, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia, in Lancaster County, for the annual volleyball tournament. Hundreds gathered around the courts in lawn chairs to watch, including Amish men with long beards beside \u201cEnglish\u201d children in sneakers and sports jerseys. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Amish in Pennsylvania, for reasons few could fully explain, love competitive volleyball. Some simply shrugged their shoulders when asked why. Others said they play volleyball because previous generations played too, a skill they learned just by watching, much the same as shoeing buggy horses or baking whoopie pies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cI guess it\u2019s just part of our culture,\u201d said Ray Beiler, the tournament\u2019s organizer. \u201dCompetition-wise, though, it\u2019s slow-pitch and volleyball, but volleyball is probably the biggest.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Amish also dabble in ice hockey when ponds freeze, Beiler said, and, in Indiana, they play basketball, of course. In Intercourse, the sharp pop of pickleball paddles on this Friday afternoon revealed another growing sport among the Amish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Volleyball, it seems, has always been there, some said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cI grew up with it,\u201d said competitor Irv Beiler, 18, of Christiana, Lancaster County. \u201cIt\u2019s a team game.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>One older Amish man said he grew up playing softball, but reckoned volleyball was a new phenomenon. When asked his name, the man spoke to his wife in Pennsylvania Dutch, and declined to answer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Amish do have a traditional game called cornerball, or \u201ceck balle\u201d in Pennsylvania Dutch, that looks like a cross between baseball and dodgeball, but in a cow pen. According to AmishAmerica.com, the sport was originally played with homemade balls made by \u201cwrapping a quarter-sized steel nut in twine and covering it with black tire tape.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>According to the website, eck balle is a disappearing sport.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Erik Wesner, founder of AmishAmerica.com, said the purpose of volleyball and other sports in Amish communities is mostly about socialization, not competition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cThis is a game that\u2019s played commonly at the Sunday youth group gatherings, or meetings at church members\u2019 houses for dinner,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a way for teens and young adults to interact.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Older Amish in Intercourse didn\u2019t know much about the rise in popularity, but, ever efficient and resourceful, said volleyball takes up little room, compared to say, soccer, and can keep a lot of children busy at a gathering.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>John Lapp, 51, of Gap, Lancaster County, said there are \u201cvolleyball barns\u201d in the area where the more serious players gather in the winter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cI played softball,\u201d he said. \u201cVolleyball was just a sport that took hold, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3897\">The four remaining golfers in the U.S. Amateur field at Merion includes a longtime local caddie<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>There doesn\u2019t appear to be much trash talk in the competitive world of Amish volleyball, unless you understand Pennsylvania Dutch, but the talent is plain as day. That makes sense, locals said, if you consider the day-to-day life of Amish youth. They\u2019re wrangling calves, riding kick scooters, and lifting hay, building muscle and balance the whole time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cI used to play too,\u201d said Simon Stoltzfus. \u201cI just can\u2019t jump as high as I could or stay up there as long.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Wesner said sports tend to be more prevalent in progressive Amish communities, like in Lancaster County, and less so in more conservative areas, like Mifflin and Clearfield Counties. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Last year, The Inquirer spoke to Melvin Byler, who grew up Amish in Western Pennsylvania, after he won the Professional Bull Riding event in Reading. Byler had to leave his Amish community to pursue bull riding as a profession.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t even see bull riding until I was 14, and when I told my parents I wanted to do it, they said it was a phase,\u201d Byler said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Steven Nolt, an Elizabethtown College professor who has researched and written about the Amish extensively, said situations like Byler\u2019s are rare. Ray Beiler said a college coach came to one of the Intercourse tournaments and said many of the competitors could play at higher levels, but Nolt said it\u2019s unlikely that even the most talented volleyball players would pursue the sport more competitively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cIt would be hard to imagine,\u201d Nolt said. \u201cThey\u2019d be making a choice not to join the Amish.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Chris Haley oversaw the pickleball tournament at the Intercourse Heritage Days, where there are new courts. He said the Amish quickly took up that sport, too, and some have makeshift courts at their house. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cThey are talented and determined,\u201d Haley said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>They compete in sports for the fun of it, not for the prospects of future scholarships, and, at a tournament as big as Intercourse, the socializing was front and center. Young Amish slipped off their black leather boots and Crocs for sneakers or went barefoot, dozens chatting up one another in both English and Pennsylvania Dutch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cThis tournament is most definitely for the fun of it,\u201d said Wilmer Stoltzfus, 20.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The players took big gulps from jugs of water and walked onto one of several courts spread out over several acres in the park. Some of the men wore thick, black work pants with suspenders, but others wore shorts. When one young Amish man dove for a dig and missed, his teammates rushed to help him up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cGood job,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>By Saturday night, only one net would remain, and a few thousand spectators would be crowding the court for the finals. The winners would get tall trophies housed in an exhibition room, with silver and gold volleyballs fastened to the tops.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3895\">Philadelphia man found guilty in string of groping incidents around Rittenhouse Square<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>They\u2019d also get bragging rights until next year, maybe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cNot bragging, no,\u201d said Wilmer Stoltzfus. \u201cWe don\u2019t really brag.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sporting black pants and long dresses, they&#8217;re playing for the fun of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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