One of the exercises we regularly ask our athletes at Blue Banner Volleyball is simple: Why?

Why do you play? Why do you train? Why your coach is asking to complete a volleyball task in specific way?

Launching the 12x12 Campaign, I think it is only fair that I answer that same question.

Why does this matter to me?

I have been extremely blessed in my life, and because of that, I feel a responsibility to create opportunities for others. When I look back on my journey, I am still surprised by how a few unexpected moments changed the entire direction of my life. Nothing was perfectly planned. My path was unorthodox, and at different points, school, music, and volleyball became the anchors that helped shape who I am today.

Volleyball entered my life in 10th grade at Cherry Hill West High School through my gym teacher, Mr. Mike Romelo. At the time, our school did not have an organized volleyball team. But after the USA Men's Volleyball Team won Olympic Gold in 1988, Mr. Romelo decided to teach the sport during P.E.

I was hooked.

For the rest of high school, volleyball became more than a sport. It became an outlet, a structure, and a place where I belonged. Before volleyball, I had experimented with other sports, including football and wrestling, but none of them truly connected with me. Volleyball was the first activity that felt like it was mine. It gave me a reason to stay after school, a mentor who invested in me, and a community where I felt valued.

Mr. Romelo and I would spend extra time in the gym playing two versus six, and by my senior year the challenge became, “Can anyone beat Mike and Lucky?”

Looking back, I realize those extra hours in the gym were doing far more than teaching me volleyball. They were shaping the trajectory of my life.

Cherry Hill had two high schools, East and West. East was considered more affluent, while many of my friends at West were beginning to find themselves heading down difficult paths. Having access to a gym, a mentor, and a sport I loved gave me something positive to focus on. Volleyball helped keep me on the straight and narrow.

After graduation, I was unsure about my next steps. Through a family connection, hard work, and an opportunity at Pennsylvania State University, I found my way to college. On my very first day, I saw a flyer advertising a volleyball open gym.

I did not know many people, but I knew volleyball.

That open gym introduced me to a community. Recreational volleyball became club volleyball. Club volleyball became lifelong friendships. There was even an opportunity to attend a walk-on session for the varsity team, but after seeing the average height in the gym, reality set in quickly. At 5'8", my chances were limited. And yes, this was before the libero position existed.

Still, volleyball continued opening doors.

After college, I was hired by Gap Inc. Gap relocated my fiancée and me to California. During my interview, the recruiter mentioned that she appreciated seeing volleyball listed as an extracurricular activity on my résumé. During orientation, that same recruiter welcomed me to the West Coast and invited me to a Thursday grass volleyball group in San Francisco's Marina District.

Once again, volleyball created a connection.

The recruiter's boyfriend and I went on to compete in local Bay Area grass tournaments for years. A sport that began in a high school P.E. class in New Jersey was now helping me build friendships and community on the other side of the country.

Later, I joined Apple—with the help of that same recruiter.

Looking back, it remains one of the most exciting chapters of my professional life. I did not invent the iPhone, iPod, iTunes, or iPad, but as a project, product, and program manager, I had the privilege of contributing to products and initiatives that millions of people continue to use every day.

When the iPhone launched in June 2007, it felt like we were changing the world. And we did.

The iPhone transformed how people communicate, work, learn, and connect.

But years later, as a coach, I began noticing something else.

Athletes were struggling more with attention, communication, anxiety, and confidence. Face-to-face conversations became more difficult. Resilience seemed harder to develop. The very technology I had spent years helping bring into the world was also creating unintended consequences for the next generation.

I became obsessed with understanding why.

That search eventually led me to Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff's book, The Coddling of the American Mind. Much of what they described mirrored exactly what I was witnessing firsthand as a coach.

Sports require communication.

Sports require accountability.

Sports require adversity.

Sports require teamwork.

Sports require leadership.

Sports require young people to fail, adjust, recover, and try again.

Whether it is volleyball, soccer, golf, chess, robotics, or another pursuit, young people need environments where growth is earned through effort and connection with others.

Volleyball just happens to be the vehicle I know best.

Volleyball helped save me. It gave me structure when I needed it. It gave me mentors when I needed direction. It gave me community when I needed connection. It opened doors from New Jersey to Penn State, from Penn State to California, from the corporate world to coaching, and ultimately to founding Blue Banner Volleyball.

At its core, volleyball is a simple game. A ball travels through space and time, and athletes must work together to keep it alive, or do their best to termintate it.

Yet hidden inside that simple acts of fighting gravity are some of life's most important lessons.

The 12x12 Campaign is personal because I know what access can do.

I know what one teacher can do.

I know what one gym can do.

I know what one opportunity can do.

I know what one sport can do.

Blue Banner Volleyball exists because volleyball can change lives.

If one athlete finds confidence because of volleyball, this work matters. If one athlete finds belonging because of volleyball, this work matters. If one athlete avoids a destructive path because volleyball provided a better one, this work matters.