(people cheering) - [Announcer] For sure, here's
Mancuso from the back row, - [Cheerleaders] C-C-O-N-N - [Gina] When I finished in 2012 with the University
of Nebraska, Lincoln, I had two choices and that's it. The first one was, end my
career, move on with life, then the only other option I
had was to continue my career, but it had to be overseas
in a foreign land, foreign language. Didn't know anyone or anything. (upbeat music) - Many of them played in other
countries, single apartment, no one else speaks English, maybe the coach
doesn't speak English. They don't get to see
their friends and family. - [Gina] Playing professionally
in the United States wasn't even a thought,
because obviously that takes a lot of money, a lot of ownership and a lot
of processes and strategies and it just wasn't even
a thing at the time. - [Narrator] Timing is
everything and an interest in the sport is at
an all time high. The Pro Volleyball
Federation has been working over the past year to bring the first professional
volleyball league in the US to market. - This has been something
I've always wanted to do, but never something I
thought would be a reality. (upbeat music) (inspiring music) - [Kendall] I played in France
for three years, overseas. I wanted to be in America, like, I debated almost like,
retiring, for that sole reason, prior to this league,
so I think this is like, the best thing in
the entire world, that I get to play on my
home turf, in my country and do what I love
and what I'm good at. Like, what I feel like
I was meant to do. (people cheering) (Kendall grunting) - [Shelton] It's one of the
most amazing, epic ways for a coach to have
an impact on the game, in a professional level
in the United States, here in the best city for
volleyball in the country. (upbeat music) - [Narrator] On January 24th, the Omaha Supernovas kicked
off the inaugural season in a home match against
the Atlanta Vibe. (people cheering) The league features
seven franchises from across the country,
with three more slated to join next season. Each team features
14 player rosters, will play 24 regular
season matches from January through May, all concluding in a
final four playoff for the Pro Volleyball
Federation Championship. (people cheering) - [Shelton] Here in Omaha,
they're aware of what it takes to have a world class
team and they have reached out to get us all
the support staff with medical, sports
psychologists, high level strength and conditioning coach,
high level athletic training. They've done that at
the highest level. (upbeat music) (people cheering) - [Gina] They're gonna see
how entertaining it is, because college in the
United States is wonderful. They do such a good job
elevating their game and performing at a high level, but professionally it's
just an upgrade from there. And so I think they're
going to experience how entertaining it is. (upbeat music) (inspiring music) (crowd cheering) - [Shelton] Our team is
gonna be a combination of USA national team players
that have experience. We're gonna have
professional players that have played
many years overseas that have a professional
savvy and a game about them that's much more sophisticated
maybe, than a college player. We're gonna have some players
that are 23 years old playing with a 34-year-old
and try to mesh that talent and personality. I think our team's gonna play
with a vibe and an enthusiasm. They're gonna be fun to watch. (people cheering) - [Nia] I am so excited
to be playing at home in front of fans that can
speak English, you know, so I know what they're saying. Just being home with
the support, I have more joy playing. So it really brought back
the joy of volleyball for me. - We all have so much gratitude
and so much appreciation that we have a league,
we have ownership. We have these people that
have invested in the league and they've said, we want to
make women's volleyball go. This is gonna take
the world by storm. - [Gina] Not only is
this my home country, but this is my home
state and my home city. So I feel very blessed. It's really life changing
for so many of us. (inspiring music) (people cheering)