Minnesota Forge has deep roots and a January first serve
Minnesota's new Major League Volleyball club now has a name, a St. Paul home and the beginnings of a wonderfully local roster. Its arrival also revives a story that started decades ago in the Minneapolis Armory.
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Annie Adamczak-Glavan once pictured a basketball future involving Larry Bird. Then volleyball caught her. By the late 1980s, she was playing professionally for the Minnesota Monarchs at Augsburg and the Minneapolis Armory, in front of crowds she remembers as knowledgeable and involved. That lovely detour belongs near the front of the Minnesota Forge story. The state's newest professional volleyball team is not landing on untouched ground; it is returning to a court that has been waiting a while.
The Minnesota Forge name and identity arrived on August 12, 2026. The women's team will begin Major League Volleyball play in January 2027 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Minnesota Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns the Minnesota Wild and operates the arena, is the majority owner. Michelle Haines is team president. Those are firm details. A match-by-match schedule and exact opening date were not on the official team page as of August 13.
Forge at a glance
- League
- Major League Volleyball
- Debut
- January 2027
- Home court
- Grand Casino Arena, St. Paul
- Team president
- Michelle Haines
Keep exploring
When you are ready for the announced names, see the Minnesota Forge roster guide keeps the roster separate from the wider story of the new club.
A name built to take some pressure
The club explains Forge as strength created through energy, pressure and purpose. Its version is collective: athletes, coaches, fans, families and the wider volleyball community all help make the thing. That is a more useful idea than a tough-sounding noun pasted onto a jersey. Volleyball makes the metaphor visible. Six players receive, set, cover and swing; even the cleanest kill begins with somebody else's touch.
The visual identity stays close to Minnesota without turning into a souvenir-shop collage. Two greens nod to pine forests and native prairies. Northern Lights purple, Lady Slipper pink, Night Sky and Snowfall round out the palette. The seven-pointed star in the mark contains a hammer in its negative space. It is a tiny reward for looking twice, which is precisely the sort of detail a new badge needs.
A real building, and a real January
Forge will not spend a vague first season wandering among temporary gyms. Its home is Grand Casino Arena, the downtown St. Paul building long associated with the Wild. The league says Minnesota is one of five expansion clubs joining or returning for 2027, bringing Major League Volleyball to 12 teams. Ticket deposits are available, but a deposit is not a schedule. Fans making plans should wait for the club to publish individual dates and opponents.
Pedro Mendes is both general manager and head coach. The Brazil native previously worked as a University of Minnesota assistant, where the Gophers reached two NCAA Sweet 16s during his tenure. His assistant, Prior Lake native CC McGraw, played for the Gophers from 2018 through 2022 before coaching at Louisville. The bench already understands the local accent.
The roster keeps finding roads home
Stephanie Samedy became the franchise's first announced player on May 5. Mendes reached her by text while she was playing in Japan, a wonderfully ordinary delivery method for a career-sized homecoming. Samedy was a five-time All-American at Minnesota. Former Gophers Airi Miyabe and Jenna Wenaas later joined her, while McGraw, one of Samedy's old college teammates, will be on the coaching staff.
The announced group is not purely nostalgic. A June league update identified Samedy, Miyabe, setter Quinn Pelland and middle blocker Marie Schölzel as Volleyball Nations League players for the United States, Japan, Canada and Germany. The roster also spans all the basic jobs on a court, including two setters and two liberos. Our position-by-position Forge roster keeps the names together and clearly marks the August 13 cutoff.
Two leagues, two Minnesota teams
A little friendly confusion is inevitable. Minnesota is also getting a League One Volleyball club in January 2027. That project is branded LOVB Minnesota, connects with the Kokoro and M1 junior clubs, and is separate from Forge. CBS Minnesota reported that LOVB Minnesota plans to play at the University of Minnesota's Maturi Pavilion, while Forge has Grand Casino Arena. Same sport. Same debut month. Different leagues, owners, rosters and venues.
The overlap looks less like a problem than a compliment to the market. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine reported in November 2025 that both ventures were preparing Minnesota launches. By July 2026, local business coverage described the Twin Cities as one of only a handful of markets set to host teams from both leagues. There will be practical questions about calendars and attention, certainly. There will also be twice as many local reasons for a kid to ask for one more set in the backyard.
The roots are not theoretical
The Forge announcement says more than 17,000 athletes play across roughly 450 Minnesota high school programs. That count comes from the team, so it should be read as the club's measure rather than an independent census. Another marker is easier to see: the Minnesota State High School League held its inaugural boys volleyball state tournament in June 2025, with eight teams competing at the University of St. Thomas. The sport's footprint is still growing.
Then there are the Monarchs. MPR News revisited that earlier professional team with Adamczak-Glavan in November 2025. She recalled a steady following before the old league ran into financial trouble in 1989. She now coaches and directs Club 43 in Hopkins. The line from reluctant young volleyball convert, to Monarch, to teacher of another generation is a humane bit of continuity that no launch graphic could manufacture.
What fans can circle, and what must wait
Circle January 2027 in pencil. Circle Grand Casino Arena in ink. The name, ownership group, coaches and a substantial run of player signings are public; the complete game calendar, first opponent and final roster designation are not yet confirmed on the sources reviewed through August 13. That boundary matters. New teams generate rumors quickly, and enthusiasm is much more fun when it does not have to be corrected later.
For now, Minnesota has a team with a hidden hammer, three Gopher homecomings and an arena waiting downtown. It also has an old Monarch who first wanted to share a basketball floor with Larry Bird and wound up helping establish a volleyball lineage instead. Funny how a state's sports history gets made: one unexpected touch, then a very good second contact.
Sources
Every factual claim above traces to one of these. Links open in a new tab.
- Minnesota's Major League Volleyball Team Revealed as Minnesota Forge
- Minnesota Forge
- Twin Cities' new professional women's volleyball team unveils official name: Minnesota Forge
- Former Minnesota Monarch reflects on history, future of women's professional volleyball in the state
- Two Pro Volleyball Leagues Serve Up Plans for Minnesota Teams
- MLV Minnesota Signs Former University of Minnesota Standout Stephanie Samedy
- Former college coaches ready to lead Minnesota's first Major League Volleyball team
- The latest star in Minnesota's volleyball sky
- Meet the eight teams competing in the inaugural Boys Volleyball State Tournament
- The big players behind Minnesota's two new pro volleyball teams
