Texas Senior/Master Volleyball, Inc                                        Gene Chambliss, President                                        Box 99, Dale, Texas 78616                                                  512-764-2305

Texas master’s volleyball began with a group of men older than most, playing volleyball in the Lone Star Region of South Texas.  You might say, it was an older group of men finding it harder to fit in with younger players, thereby the older bonding together, forming a team bearing the named, “Texas Masters.”  This group was headed by a gentleman of Houston, Leonard “Red” Kleinhenz, but consisted of men from several cities large and small throughout Texas.  Then the Senior Olympics, played its first games in 1987, was hosted in St Louis, Missouri, which Red formed the first age group team to partake in the competition which at that time, the minimum age was 55.  The team organized, was named the “Texas Roughnecks”, (Red being in the oil industry), traveled to St Louis and won the first National Championship.  Two years later, the Senior Olympics being a biannual event, was held for a second time in St Louis, the Roughnecks returned to repeat as champions.  By this time the Senior Olympics events began in Houston, San Antonio, then Dallas and several teams were formed.  In 1991, the Senior Olympics was moved to Syracuse, New York which the Roughnecks attending placing second.  Later, in 1991, we lost Red on the volleyball court in Houston.  Shocked and saddened, Red’s wife Mary, forwarded to Gene Chambliss the list of players now playing senior volleyball.

Thus, Gene dreamed of greater and wider growth and the idea loomed to create a non profit organization for the purpose expanding volleyball to younger and older participates to sharpen play, create more teams, for fellowship and the benefits of one health.  In 1992 the masters was reorganized by Gene, Henry Martin, Van Shaw, and Alex Beall, and in 1994 it was approved by the State of Texas as a non profit organization, the Texas Senior/Master Volleyball, Incorporated (TS/MV).  The TS/MV was structured into three Directorates, the Seniors, Masters, and Juniors.  Thus, the Senior Directorate became Texas Senior Volleyball Association, (TSVA), the Master Directorate became Texas Master Volleyball Association (TMVA), and the Junior Directorate became the Texas Junior Volleyball Association (TJVA).  The age standards are as follows:  Through 18 years of age, the Juniors, from 30 through 49 years of age, the Masters, and 50 years of age and thereafter, the Seniors.