Fusion South volleyball has successful first year

BATAVIA – Just a year after volleyball powerhouse Club Fusion opened its “South” location, the Batavia facility has more teams than any of Fusion’s other branches, including its longtime headquarters in Marengo.

So what took so long?

“We’ve always talked about it. We just didn’t know if it was a good idea yet,” said Mike Bui, program director at Fusion South in Batavia. “I mean, you have a lot of solid volleyball clubs in the area. You have Kane County (Juniors) down the street from us, you have Sports Performance. ... To get 33 teams our first year, we were anticipating 12 to 15 teams in our first year. Our reputation has grown so much that kids want to play at Fusion.”

In its first year, Fusion South fielded 33 teams of about 10 players each, ranging in age from 12U to 17U. There are plans to add an 18U level next year, providing further incentive for the club to rent additional space to supplement its Batavia venue next to the Campana building on Fabyan Parkway.

All but four of the 33 are girls teams. Bui said about 75 percent of the players at the Batavia facility are from the Tri-Cities area.

Sydney Wohlert, who will be a junior setter this fall at St. Charles North, played for Fusion in Marengo as an eighth-grader and freshman before switching to Batavia when the South facility opened last summer.

Wohlert was hardly alone in making the migration.

“Around here, it’s definitely South,” Wohlert said. “At my high school camp that I was just at, the South shirts were rocking everywhere. A lot of people have really transitioned down here because it is so much more practical. I went from like a 45-minute drive to a 15-, 20-minute drive.”

Fusion South has red practice T-shirts that – other than the color – are replicas of what is worn by players at the Fusion facilities in Marengo (royal blue) and Rockford (navy blue).

Batavia graduate and former Western Illinois University volleyball coach Kym McKay is taking over as lead trainer at Fusion South. McKay said there is no competition for players between Fusion’s Batavia and Marengo operations.

“It’s definitely not a South vs. Marengo,” McKay said. “It’s the same product, just different geographical locations. Marengo does have one more practice per week than we do, but when players are making those decisions, either decision they make, they’re making a good one.”

The well-known Fusion program expanding to Batavia was a game-changer for the area’s highly competitive club volleyball scene. McKay said Fusion’s intent is not to poach players from other club competitors.

“We want to grow our sport, and we want to give opportunities to this area,” McKay said. “We just want any player who’s here or at another club to be enjoying that experience. If they enjoy that experience [elsewhere] and stay loyal to them, that’s fantastic, because we want our players to stay loyal to us. But if they feel there are other avenues to explore, then we’ll encourage them because every player has different needs and different desires, and hopefully they can find a club that fills all that.”

ProForce, a local sports performance training company, shares the warehouse-style facility with Fusion as an alternate location, and trains many of the Fusion athletes for strength, speed and conditioning.

Fusion’s 13,000 square foot, South location has three courts compared to four in Marengo. That already has proved to be an insufficient number given the club’s popularity, likely prompting another rental or two in the near future.

“Thirty-three teams and three courts, you do the math – it doesn’t work out very well,” said Bui, also an assistant girls volleyball coach at St. Charles East.

Noting the success of the local high school girls volleyball programs, Bui said the Tri-Cities has proved to be fertile ground for families willing to invest in their children’s volleyball futures.

“Nowadays, it’s [even challenging to make] your freshman team because there are so many young kids playing club,” Bui said. “I know at St. Charles East, we have 30-plus kids that played club, incoming freshmen. That’s unbelievable.”