CORNING, N.Y. (WENY) -- Volleyball started as a normal and fun activity for a group of local students. Now, these teens and others had their game faces on in Corning for the Second Annual Houghton Classic Volleyball Tournament held on Thursday, June 27 and Friday, June 28. 

In order to take advantage of their warm summer days, Corning-Painted Post High School Students gathered in Houghton Park a few years ago to play volleyball. What started as a friendly competition between members of the school's track team only grew and expanded when an idea struck their minds.

"It started like three years ago, we had a small tournament with just the track team and then, last year, me and my friends took it upon ourselves to kind of grow it and try to reach out to more of the school and more of the kids in our area," said Aidan Kahabka, Co-Founder and Organizer. "So, then we did that and now we have this going. We just have a lot of free volleyball coming up to the tournament and then we try to be competitive during the tournament and have fun."

A record 120 people showed up this year from across the region to create 20 volleyball teams. To join the tournament, each player had to pay a five-dollar fee. This fee helps the teen organizers purchase the necessary resources for the tournament. This includes items such as nets, volleyballs, snacks, and drinks. As part of the competition's growth however, they plan to also use some of the money earned for a good cause next year.

"If we had a prize fund, people would get a little too competitive in it," said Luck Mertus, another one of the Co-Founders and Organizers. "So, we were like, 'Well, we're going to have this extra money next year. Where do we want it to go?' Because we're not really going to do anything with it so we were like, 'Oh, we can have the winners pick a charity that they'll donate to.' And we think people will enjoy that."

In their expansion efforts this year, the group made people aware of the tournament by word of mouth and newly, social media. The organizers created an Instagram account where they began posting information for the games beginning in March. They linked a Google Form and Venmo in the Instagram bio to help them gather the information of each player, their team, and their entry fees as well.

Their donations to charity are the next big move in expansions as they prep for the competition again next year. However, as they work to do so, they can all still agree on one thing. Volleyball is a sport that unites them.

"To see everyone come together like that and have a communal effort to put on something so fun, it's really special," said Jaxyn Mahoney, an additional Co-Founder and Organizer.

The teen organizers agree that the Houghton Classic Tournament had another successful year. In fact, the games did not just garner the attention of current Corning-Painted Post High School Students. In fact, because of their reach, it not only spread across their school but to other districts, towns, and CPP Alumni as well. Some of the organizers have freshly graduated too and say next year will be bigger and better.