“It’s always fun to make history.”
That’s the message Laura Lee Holman imparted Monday in her first official duties as New Hope High School volleyball coach.
Holman should know how fun it is to take a first step. After all, she helped organize and was the coach of the school’s inaugural girls golf team last year.
This year, Holman, a former standout girls basketball and softball player at New Hope High, has accepted the job of building a volleyball program. On Monday in the New Hope Middle School gym, Holman was equal parts teacher and observer as she showed 54 high school students the fundamentals of the sport and then watched as they worked on the skills.
“We’re pretty much going to be a junior high program at the varsity level and then teaching them the fundamentals and getting as many reps in as we can,” said Holman, who also coaches girls basketball at New Hope High. “This year, anybody we play is going to have the experience over us. The main thing is we work on fundamentals and kind of play the catch-up game. I think the more time we spend on fundamentals is the best way to play catch up.”
Holman will hold a second tryout at 6 tonight at the New Hope Middle School gym. She said the team has an 11-match schedule, and that it will play its home matches at Lake Lowndes State Park. She said the large scoreboard in the high school gym and the lack of seating and air conditioning in the middle school gym forced the program to find another home. She said Lowndes County Superintendent Lynn Wright played a role in helping to bring the program to New Hope High.
Holman, who played basketball at Troy (Ala.) University, spent three days last week learning about the volleyball from Troy coach Sonny Kirkpatrick. Holman knew Kirkpatrick from her time at Troy, and she said she picked up a lot of helpful information in that time that she will pass on to her players.
“I had watched a lot of college volleyball at Troy, so I knew a little bit about it, but as far as the fundamentals, I really was very surprised how much went into it, the technique and the footwork and the fundamentals of it,” Holman said. “It was a great experience.”
Holman said she practiced the skills while she was at Troy so she would be able to demonstrate the proper technique to the New Hope High players. She was honest with those players at the start of the tryout when she told them she never played the sport. But she stressed the players’ lack of experience wasn’t going to hurt them as long as they worked hard, had good attitudes, and were coachable.
Kennedi Sanders was one of eight seniors who attended the tryout. A dancer and a member of the school’s track and field team, Sanders said she was excited about the opportunity to try a new sport.
“I am just really competitive, and I know coach Holman is a good coach, so I wanted to come out and see how I would do and how well the team is going to do,” Sanders said. “I know what I have heard this past week (about volleyball). I told people I was trying out and I heard totally random stuff about it. That is all I know (about the sport).”
The tryout was familiar for junior Kristen Phillips, who last year was a part of the inaugural Heritage Academy volleyball team. This year, she is looking forward to taking on a new role as a volleyball “veteran.”
“It is exciting the first day because you don’t know what to expect, but it is a really fun sport,” said Phillips, who also plays basketball. “I can help other people if they have questions. It is really helpful to know the sport a little bit.”
Sanders and Phillips were surprised by the number of students who attended the tryout. The group of 54 didn’t include any middle school students. Holman, who was immersed in the tradition of New Hope High’s softball program growing up, knows building a feeder system will be a crucial element in the volleyball program’s growth. For now, though, she will focus on fundamentals and learning the sport and trying to find the players with the most potential to help the Lady Trojans make history.
“I think we have enough athletes to be competitive at (slow-pitch softball and volleyball),” Holman said. “I do hate they are at the same time, but I think any time you give kids an opportunity to have any extra activity is great, and having more female athletes kind of evens the board with football. Football carries the load and baseball carries a larger load, and adding another female sport is getting more females out and playing and involved in sports.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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