Seng Chiu didn’t plan to start his own volleyball club. Though he had a lifelong love for the sport, he was perfectly content spending most of his career career coaching at the high school and college level.

Notable stops for him included George Mason University, the University of Nevada-Reno and the College of William & Mary, where he played club volleyball.

But as volleyball exploded in popularity, Chiu recognized two problems: Young players were being systematically weeded out, as most clubs targeted elite-level athletes, and those who endured oftentimes burned out.