When Jon Enns signed up his daughter, Rilee, for volleyball at 8 years old, he had no idea what he was getting into. She fell in love with the sport and continued to excel. That led to more teams, more practices, more tournaments, more of the family’s time being taken up by volleyball.
“I was starting to see how it was consuming her life and our family,” Enns told Sports Spectrum. “The pressure of a social media presence, videos, practices, trainings, camps, etc., was starting to take over our life. … The sport of volleyball is exploding more than ever and the world of club volleyball for female athletes is becoming the biggest club sport in the country.”
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Jon grew up in the small farming community of Dalmeny, Saskatchewan, where club volleyball wasn’t a thing. High school volleyball was popular, though, and he played for four years, while also spending many weekends watching a cousin play at the University of Saskatchewan.
He also grew up in the church, and accepted Jesus as his Savior at a young age. He was a regular at youth group and spent his senior year of high school at Caronport High, a Christian school where a mentor, Gib Hinz, helped shape Jon’s faith in Christ. He went on to attend the University of Northwestern-St. Paul in Minnesota, where he eventually met his wife.
So as they started a family, Jon and his wife knew they had to be centered on God, not sports.
“We love the sport and we love all the aspects that come with it, but without God as the center of it all, it was turning into a very dangerous ‘all about me’ lifestyle,” Jon says.
That led to the launch of Setter Vision, a faith-based Christian volleyball initiative that encourages athletes to run the race of life with perseverance, give everything they have to offer, and keep their eyes on Jesus through the sport of volleyball. Over the past two years, Jon and Rilee have shared more than 100 athlete stories from 29 different states, with the goal being to reach athletes in all 50 states.
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The term “Setter Vision” actually popped into Jon’s mind during one of Rilee’s basketball games when she was in eighth grade. She’s a setter in volleyball and was playing point guard in basketball, and dishing out assists all over the place on this particular day. Jon thought to himself, that’s her “setter vision.” He couldn’t get the term out of his head as time went on and he continued driving back and forth between his daughter’s practices, so he started to ask God how “Setter Vision” could maybe turn into something different.
Jon follows a lot of college coaches and athletes on social media, and noticed a lot of talk about what an athlete’s identity is rooted in. If it is only rooted in their sport, how can they mentally handle the ups, downs, injuries, setbacks and anything else that comes along with their sport? If the sport is taken away from them, what is left?
“It is their faith that gives them the strength to carry on and not fall apart,” Jon says. “So, God gave us the idea to give athletes, specifically volleyball, an avenue to be bold and share how they live and share their faith through their sport of volleyball.”
Rilee is now a sophomore at Andover High School and a part of the Minnesota Select club program. When the family travels around to tournaments, they seek ways to spread the Gospel. Recently, they came across a group called TheVolleyChurch, which also realized the emptiness of the sport and the constant tournaments on Sundays that take athletes and their families away from church. So Setter Vision partnered with TheVolleyChurch at a President’s Day tournament in St. Louis, where three Setter Vision athletes shared their testimonies. The groups also held question-and-answer sessions with any athlete or family that could attend in between tournament waves.
Setter Vision’s primary influence, however, is on social media. And one such example of its impact came from Anjalena Almanza, a student-athlete in Colorado.
“One morning, I woke up to a video that tagged us on Instagram,” Jon said. “Anjalena, with the help of her high school principal, created a short video sharing about her journey and how Setter Vision helped her be bold in her faith.”
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Driven by Hebrews 12:1-2 — “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” — Setter Vision aims for more stories like this. At the same time, Jon has also stepped into the recruiting world of volleyball. Setter Vision will partner with families to assist in guidance and mentorship, and the creation of highlight videos and social media graphics.
“Our goal is to offer personal mentorship and recruiting assistance in a cost-effective way for families who feel overwhelmed in their recruiting journey,” Jon says.
It all stems from a vision to keep God first, not sports.
“We want athletes to not be afraid to share their faith in front of their family, friends, teammates and opponents,” Jon says. “As we grow and work with athletes across the country, we hope to have a presence at tournaments across the country, personally connecting with athletes and their families, encouraging them, praying with them and giving them more opportunities to be a light for Christ in the volleyball world.”
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