Less than two years before its expected launch, the new professional women’s volleyball league in the United States, the LOVB, got two big signings.
Kelsey Robinson (currently with Italy’s Prosecco DOC Imoco Conegliano) and Justine Wong-Orantes (currently with France’s Béziers), two members of the US National Team that won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games, are the first players to sign a contract for the new League One Volleyball (LOVB), the first competition in the United States that describes itself as fully professional. The two Olympic champions will launch a list of engagements from the organization that we presented a year ago.
The signing of two world-class players is a first step towards realizing the goal of launching a major league volleyball in the United States, other than Athletes Unlimited which is based on individual performances. No wonder Robinson and Wong-Orantes were selected by the LOVB as initial signings given that they’ve been active members of the league’s Athlete Council since 2020. The LOVB already has significant growth, even though it’s yet to commence (in 2024) whose community approaches, starting first with junior volleyball clubs across the country which will be expanded to professional teams; it has grown 270% in the past year alone, currently having 769 teams in 30 clubs in 18 states.
