Co-directors Erica Raisor, left, and Jenna Grider-Ortega pose for a photo in front of the HAVOC facility on Columbus’ east side in 2022.
Submitted photo
Over the past few years, Hope Area Volleyball Club (HAVOC) has become the final remaining youth volleyball club in Bartholomew County.
But after 21 years of operation, the HAVOC name is going away. HAVOC has merged with a newly-created Columbus Select Volleyball and will practice out of the new fieldhouse at NexusPark.
“With us having all of the area high school coaching staffs on board, it kind of made sense to follow the “One Team, One Dream” motto with HAVOC,” Erica Raisor said. “We’re hopeful bringing all of this to one area, it will help our athletes, so they’re not having to travel as far.”
Raisor and Columbus North High School coach Jenna Ortega have been co-owners and co-directors of HAVOC since 2016. They will continue as co-directors of Columbus Select Volleyball Club.
“Awhile back, we were talking to this group about utilizing Nexus Park, and it formed a new entity,” Ortega said. “There’s going to be a lot more to be offered for these athletes and their families.”
Select Athletics, will own and operate Columbus Select Volleyball. The new venture was created by Indiana-based Legacy Sports Group, a consulting, management and event production form that specializes in the sports tourism industry; and Columbus-based H3 Athletix Sports Group, a multi-brand event management, marketing and media team.
Joining forces with LSG and integrating the wealth of experience from HAVOC is a game changer for us as we introduce our new volleyball club,” H3 Athletics CEO Harvey Scruggs said in a news release.
LSG president and CEO William Knox said Select Athletics also plans to offer club sports for basketball, baseball, softball, football and pickleball.
“Creating this new business makes sense with the development of the Circle K Fieldhouse and the huge interest the comminity is showing for club sports,” Knox said in the news release.
HAVOC had just opened a practice facility on the east side of Columbus in 2022. Ortega and Raisor said the plan is to keep that open for private lessons.
Hauser coach Jeff Case started HAVOC in 2003. He and former assistant Becky Schoen ran the program until Raisor (Case’s daughter) and Ortega took over in 2016.
Since then, the club has grown to 17 girls and one boys team and has a total of 24 coaches, most of which also are high school coaches in Bartholomew County.
“It’s definitely bittersweet because my dad is the one that created the branding, and then Jenna and I have been in the HAVOC logo for just about 20 years,” Raisor said. “It’s going to be a big change, but it’s a good opportunity for our players.”
Columbus Select Volleyball Club will host a 5 1/2-hour day camp for boys and girls ages 5 to 18 on April 28 at the new fieldhouse at NexusPark. Cost is $65 and includes volleyball instruction, agility and jump training, a camp t-shirt and snacks. For more information, or to register, visit Select-Athletics.com
