Every athlete’s dream is to play in a loud, energizing environment with cheering fans surrounding them. At Saint Stephen’s, we tend to be supportive of our athletes when districts roll around, but typically, we don’t show up to cheer our athletes on at the games that get them there.
Generally, at Saint Stephens the only two teams that drum up large crowds of students are boys football and boys basketball because stereotypically, they seem to be the most entertaining. For some of our other teams, like soccer and lacrosse, the boys and girls teams support one another due to their games being back to back.
But there is one sport that doesn’t get the privilege of either of these fan benefits: girls volleyball.
Being in the fall, the same season as football, has not exactly helped the volleyball team’s fan participation. It was typical for students to choose Friday Night Lights over being in the gym watching the volleyball team, a program that many students, in recent years, have seen as “not that good.”
This used to be true, but with our new coaching staff, more experienced players, and even strategic scheduling changes over the past two years, volleyball has become one of the most exciting and competitive sports events that you can attend.
Let’s take at the Volleyball Program of the Past versus the Volleyball Program of the Present below. After you take in the differences, I hope you decide to come out to support the falcons volleyball team at its next match.
Volleyball Program of the Past
Lack of spectators: “With girls volleyball the only support we get is from the parents of the players and a few JV girls. I thought it was impressive going to other games against schools like Parish, Bradenton Christian, Manatee, and more, where their stands were filled, students came with signs and props, and they even made up cheers for the players.”- Senior Keira Milburn
Little to no coaching: “Our practices were always really slow paced and didn’t challenge us, I feel like the only improvement I was making was at club”- Sophomore Sophia Ieruli
A weak MS team: “I feel like they only focused on Varsity and left us peppering and clueless on what to do while trying to improve the varsity.”- Eighth grader Alexis Mariano
A lame schedule: “It’s hard to support the volleyball team when most of the home games are on fridays and I have to cheer at the football games”- Senior Reese Williams
Volleyball Program of the Present
Big, new ideas: For home games this year the volleyball team has made “theme nights” to draw students in and make the games more fun for everyone. Here are a few of the upcoming themes:
Tacky Tourist / Black out / Green and Gold (senior night) / Superheroes
Awesome new coaching staff: With a change in coaching last year, the team now has a more rigorous practice schedule with helpful and demanding drills to push for improvement. Coach Millie La Vassaur has been helping improve not only the way the girls play individually, but also together, leading to success on the court. (3-0 so far this season).
A new and improved MS squad: “We plan on building the volleyball program as a whole by not only focussing on varsity but having a good coaching staff for middle school and JV in order to create strong varsity players for the future.”-Coach Millie
Scheduling upgrades: “This year we scheduled our games for Tuesdays and Thursdays so that our games don’t overlap with football”- Coach Isa
Based on these observations made by parents, players, and other students in the past four years, the athletic department has taken it upon itself to completely change the volleyball program in order to be more competitive, fun, and supportive for everyone at Saint Stephens. With all of these changes in mind, the team hopes that you will change your minds about Saint Stephen’s volleyball, and help us by coming and supporting the falcons girls volleyball team. I hope to see you at the next home game!
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