The Greek Orthodox Volleyball League was founded in 1996. Chris Varthalamis, a parishioner from St. John’s Blue Point, had an idea to create a Suffolk County Volleyball League for the Greek Orthodox Churches in eastern Long Island. He, together with Gus Sotiriadis of Assumption in Port Jefferson, brought the idea of this league to Lily Noulis from St. Paraskevi, Greenlawn and Tasos Matheos from St. Nicholas, Babylon. These four teams played the inaugural season in 1996. St. John’s Blue Point Girls took home the Championship of the inaugural season. These four teams continued through to 1997, where St. John’s Blue Point Boys and Assumption Port Jefferson Girls took home the championship in their respective divisions. In 1998 the league grew. St. Demetrios in Merrick, St. Markella in Wantagh, both from Nassau County and St. Demetrios in Astoria, Queens joined the league. In the 1998 season, St. Demetrios Merrick Boys and St. John’s Blue Point Girls won their respective divisions. St. Demetrios, Merrick winning the Championship in their first season.
From 1999 to 2006 the League developed three divisions (Suffolk, Nassau, and NYC) all three divisions included both Boys and Girls teams. The League grew to 12 churches and 24 teams. St. Paraskevi in Greenlawn, St. John’s in Blue Point, St. Nicholas in Babylon, and Assumption in Port Jefferson made up the “Suffolk Division”. Archangel Michael in Roslyn, St. Paul’s in Hempstead, St. Demetrios in Merrick, and Holy Trinity in Hicksville made up the “Nassau Division”. Kimisis in Island Park, St. Demetrios in Astoria, Holy Trinity – St. Nicholas in Staten Island and The Three Hierarchs in Brooklyn made up the “NYC Division”. From 1996 to 2006 the League also had active participation in the annual Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan District Olympics, and the Annual Cathedral Cup hosted by The Cathedral of St. Paul in Hempstead and continues to actively participate in both events to this day.
Between 2006 and 2012 the League had undergone some changes. Due to decline in youth participation. The League dropped down to 8 Churches and 16 teams, with that number fluctuating throughout those years. The league name changed from the New York GOYA Volleyball League (NYGVL), to the Nassau Suffolk GOYA Volleyball League (NSGVL), then to the Metropolitan Greek Orthodox Volleyball League. It wasn’t until between 2012 and 2014 that the league became the Direct Archdiocesan District Greek Orthodox Volleyball League (DADGOVL). Despite the challenges of participation from other parishes, under the guidance of Marcelle Wheeler, Niko Poulikidis and other volunteers the league had a very promising future.
The League saw a growth again between 2015 and 2019. With Archangel Michael, formerly of Roslyn, now of Port Washington, and St. Markella of Wantagh, rejoining the league. With new people involved in the functionality of the league, opening up volunteer opportunities to former alumni of the league. The league went from 8 Churches and 16 teams to 10 churches and 20 teams across Long Island and Queens. The Playoffs were changed from a tournament style day, to now a 3-week post season consisting of 2-3 rounds and the finals. All the churches now played in one division, rather than the three divided by region. The weekend of what was formerly the playoffs, became the Silver Cross Tournament. Archangel Michael in Port Washington also started their own tournament in 2019. The 2020 season arrived, just as the league was preparing for the 2020 playoffs, the pandemic hit. The 2020 season was never finished, and a 2021 season was never held. In the Summer of 2021 the League Director, Marcelle Wheeler, and the League Coordinators, Mantoula Ottaviano, Niko Poulikidis and Manoli Kouroupakis, got together to determine if a 2022 season was possible.
The 2022 season resurrected the league. The season now consisted of the Archangel Michael “Harry Lascarides Memorial Tournament” in Port Washington (which now signifies the start of the season), St. Nicholas “Michael Baritis Memorial Tournament” in West Babylon, the regular season, post season, championship, St. Paul’s “Cathedral Cup” in Hempstead, The “Silver Cross” Tournament in Port Jefferson, and lastly the Direct Archdiocesan District Olympics at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood. The teams for the 2022 season stayed the same as they were pre-pandemic which consisted of 10 churches and 20 teams. The desire to grow was there. Participation across the Long Island and Queens parishes was at an all-time high due to the kids being eager to get out of the house and represent their churches through volleyball.
2023 and 2024 saw new growth in the League. Churches were allowed to submit multiple teams, which allowed more children to participate. At the start of 2023 the League had 9 churches and 22 teams, by the end of 2024 the League grew to 11 churches and 25 teams. The League welcomed Resurrection, Brookville and St. Nicholas Flushing. The League started gaining interest among the churches in the Boroughs once again! The 2023 season saw the league’s social media presence increase, with an official Facebook page, as well as the first live stream of the boys and girls division championship, and the Silver Cross Tournament was held at SUNY Farmingdale, this was the first athletic event under the Archdiocese to be held on a college campus outside of the GOADO. At the end of 2023, the league saw a change in leadership. Marcelle Wheeler stepped down as League Director and passed the torch onto the League Coordinators, Mantoula Ottaviano, Niko Poulikidis and Manoli Kouroupakis.
In the planning phases for the 2025 Season, Holy Cross in Whitestone joined the league, bringing with them two girl’s teams. This brought the League to 13 Churches, and 31 teams! This was amazing, however also presented its own challenges. 23 of those 31 teams were girls’ teams. So, a decision was made to split the girls’ division. Churches with enough players in 8th – 9th grade would have their junior teams play in a junior division. This marked the first time in 30 years that a separate age division was introduced. There were 9 teams participating in the Girl’s Junior Division, 14 teams in the Girl’s Division and 8 teams in the Boys Division. This decision ultimately allowed for more participation and allowed the League to continue to grow. The League continues to maintain a social media presence on Facebook and Instagram, continues to submit photos to the National Herald, and maintains live streams of playoffs.
The 2026 season celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the GOVL. 2026 continues to grow the league, although no new churches joined, existing churches have expanded their teams and updated their gyms and equipment. St. Demetrios in Merrick finished construction just before the start of the season. This was huge! Merrick hosted their church’s first home game at the start of the season with many more to come. The League’s teams also continued to grow, in the Boys Division Resurrection in Brookville added a Boys team, bringing the number of boys teams up to 9. This season we still have 13 Churches, and 32 teams! The League continues its presence on social media; The National Herald continues to follow the League providing updates weekly in their paper. This season the Playoffs were expanded again to not only include every team but also added a Bronze Match so that there’s more games, more playing time, and more volleyball!
Note from your Coordinators,
As the league looks forward to growing, we also wanted to have the ability to reflect on the 30-year history of the league. What started off as an idea with four churches, became something much larger, connecting many churches, kids, coaches, advisors, and families through volleyball. To Quote past Directors and Coordinators,
“The mission of the Volleyball League is to provide a healthy vehicle of expression through the use of athletics for the Greek Orthodox Youth of the Direct Archdiocesan District, while under the supervision and guidance of our spiritual community.”
Thank you everyone past and present for being a part of this amazing league, and continuing to grow it’s legacy!