Sports

Volleyball Club Gets OK to Convert Warehouse

The director of 949 wants a permanent place to practice and stay competitive. The new home will also offer some tournaments.

Youth volleyball has gotten so competitive in South Orange County that one club’s director says he needs a permanent practice space to stay in the game.

Justin DeBlasio, director of 949 Volleyball, went before the San Juan Capistrano Planning Commission Tuesday, seeking permission to use half of a warehouse on Calle Perfecto whose other half is occupied by Bimbo Bakeries.  

With that operation’s hours being midnight to 1 p.m. and the ceilings being more than tall enough, it’s the spot he’s been waiting for, DeBlasio said.  

“The space was actually perfect. We’ve been looking for the last three, four years for space,” he said.

“Mainly we’re just trying to get our teams in there, and the competition is so intense in Orange County, and we need the space to do that.”  

The club will install three courts and use them mainly for practice, but as many as 10 times a year, 949 will host small tournaments of no more than eight teams.

Currently, most clubs across Southern California travel to the American Sports Center in Anaheim, advertised as the largest indoor court facility with 34 courts, to play, or to smaller facilities in Huntington Beach, San Marcos and Cal State Long Beach.  

Calle Perfecto has become a sort of magnet for student athletes. Also nearby are Redline Athletics and the Baseball Performance Academy


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