NVASeasonThere’s a New Professional Sports Team Rambling Into Vegas

Returning to the NVA for their second season, the Ramblers look to continue their astounding success from last year’s Championships, finishing 3rd in their first playoff run. Since then, the team has been fired up and has been in the gym nonstop as the players returned home back from Salt Lake City. That fire has been fueled by the continued opportunity to represent volleyball in the Valley against the best teams the US has to offer. The region for years has been a quiet producer of some elite collegiate volleyball players on the West Coast, even with no collegiate opportunities for men’s volleyball players in the state of Nevada. These young athletes must ramble, and it’s about time the boys get to come home and show the next generation of players what high-level volleyball  is all about.

“This has been a dream for so many players who have grown up in the Vegas area. I wanted to take on this team to give these local guys the opportunities to play elite volleyball without having to travel around the world to do so.” – Vinny Rodriguez, Rambler’s Owner/GM.

The team is currently split between players living locally in the Valley of Las Vegas and another core group in Southern California. The ‘Cali-Ramblers’ squad runs training out of Calvary Chapel High School in Costa Mesa, California. At Calvary, the team conducts joint practices for scrimmage purposes against the OC Stunners and LA Blaze. An excellent way for the Nevada team to keep tabs on the competition. 

“The biggest challenge for managing this team has been balancing two groups and finding the best way to utilize all the talent that we have at our disposal,” stated Vinny.

Back in Vegas, the team’s home base and training center has been with Vegas United Volleyball Club located between the Strip and Spring Valley. The youth club has indeed been the point of inception for the Ramblers and has hosted the team’s tryout, and has been pivotal in growing the boy’s game. For years United Volleyball has been a pipeline for players to attend colleges all over the nation, especially in its volleyball region, Southern California. The team has been thrilled to be a part of such a fantastic volleyball family and inspire the next generation of athletes to come from the area. The shared vision between the two organizations of growing volleyball in Las Vegas, made this partnership a natural one.  Below is a link to that club: https://www.vegasunitedvc.com/

Moving into the next momentous season with the NVA, the Ramblers have seen some roster changes from their 2020 Championship team. Nick England took a step away from the court to turn to sports broadcasting, becoming the NVA’s courtside commentator and even running his volleyball analysis channel on Twitch! (Twitch.tv/xthatchrx). Gianluca Grasso has moved back to Dallas/Fort Worth to spearhead the Tyrants’ relocation to Texas along with his father, Mauro Grasso. Then outside hitter, Gino Gamboa will be taking some time off to recover from his injury but is hopeful to be back in time for the finals in July! Fans can expect to see all their other favorite players and some new faces, such as Irvine Valley College alumni, Opposite Kyle Radecki. In addition, the Ramblers will welcome back Setter Michael Keegan (IPFW) and Libero, Ryan Manoogian (Long Beach State) as they were refining their craft overseas in Europe during the NVA Champions back in November.

With all of these changes, the Ramblers looks to finalize their roster in the next few weeks, adding talent from both seasoned professionals and graduating seniors from top universities. 

There’s a lot more in store this season for the Ramblers as they step back up to the plate and come out swinging for the fences this year. To get weekly social media updates, you can check the Rambler’s (@ramblersnvausa) and the NVA (@nvausa) on Instagram and Facebook as well as their website (ramblers.nvausa.com). As always, fans can check out the NVA on YouTube to catch reruns of Rambler’s 2020 Championship performances as well as live-stream coverage of the upcoming events starting April 23rd. Until then, RAMBLE ON!