When Helen Swanson was growing up in the 1940 and 50s, opportunities to play sports looked very different for girls. Games were very informal, not competitive or organized, and everything was for fun. National organizations were concerned that competition might be too stressful on a female body.

Swanson had been introduced to volleyball - in a very informal capacity - during her time at Henry Sibley High School. When she got to the University of Minnesota in 1955, the Women’s Physical Education Department sponsored intramural activities for women. One of the activities was the class tournament, where the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors played together as a class - for fun.

It was during that time that Swanson learned more about volleyball, and grew to enjoy it even more. She was invited to join the Latvian players on campus who played competitively at the local and Midwest level. The Latvian women played what was then known as ‘power volleyball,’ and on the Latvian leagues, Swanson fell in love with competitive volleyball. 

Eventually, competitive women’s leagues formed outside of the Latvian leagues, and Swanson was a part of the Bungalow team - named for their local sponsor. While on the Bungalow team, Swanson met Anna Bergstrom Anderson. As the popularity of competitive volleyball began to grow at the high school and college level, the need for officials grew, and as young women who knew the game - Swanson and Bergstrom Anderson found themselves in high demand.

Together with Bergstrom Anderson, Swanson created the Metro Volleyball Officials Association to help respond to the demand for officials. The duo held clinics and rules meetings, helping to both grow the number of local volleyball officials and increase their level of expertise. This effort was instrumental in the growth of girls’ and women’s volleyball in Minnesota, and eventually the Minnesota State High School League took over by hosting statewide rules meetings and registering officials.

When the first MSHSL state girls’ volleyball tournament was held in 1974, Swanson was there. The volleyball standards were weighed down with sandbags, and the electricity in the gym went out just as the first match was set to begin. It was the first of many challenges - and many tournaments. Swanson remembers the second year of the state tournament when there was a blizzard just days before the tournament. One team followed a snowplow from Windom to Hallenbeck Hall on the St. Cloud State University campus, and another team was driven to the gym by families with snowmobiles.

In November 2023, the MSHSL State Girls’ Volleyball Tournament celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, and that is thanks in no small part to Swanson and her work in recruiting and training officials in the 1960s and 70s. Her love of the game and determination to find more opportunities for girls and women to play paved the way for the next generation of volleyball players in Minnesota.