News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Rodney Howard enters his first season as Cumberland County Jets Volleyball Coach, looking to turn the Jets into a volleyball program.
When the head coaching position opened up, Howard said he jumped at the chance to coach his daughters and their friends. With the first game just days away, Howard said this season will mark a new chapter in the programs history.
“We have built something that Cumberland County has never seen before,” Howard said. “You’ll see things at our games that you’d see at college games. We have all kinds of different things that we’re going to be doing and it’s pretty exciting. The kids are excited and we’re all just ready to make memories and win a lot of games this year.”
Part of what Howard is bringing is a “college environment” to their home games. This includes reserved season tickets, a DJ, vertical fog machines, personalized music for players and a t-shirt cannon. Howard said he expects the game day experience will elevate both his teams’ performance, but also the program’s reputation.
“It’s going to be an intense atmosphere and I’m hoping that maybe that’ll make other teams start looking at us a little bit differently,” Howard said. “It’s definitely going to be an experience for the girls for sure, I hope everybody enjoys it. And it’s really not just going to be a game now, it’ll be a full show.”
Though this is his first year as head coach, Howard knows the players from his time as an assistant coach for the program. He is also the founder of Lyons Creek Volleyball Club, a travel ball team that 11 of Cumberland County High’s volleyball team plays for, an advantage Howard is well aware of.
“They’re playing 50 something games every off season. Before I got there, there was only one person that was actually playing, or one or two people playing travel,” Howard said. “But now, we had 11 girls play travel volleyball last year. And each one of those girls got anywhere from 30 to 50 games.”
Another advantage the Jets will have this season is a roster full of full time volleyball players. Howard said not having split athletes allows his team to grow closer both on and off the court.
“This team meshes well,” Howard said. “When we start their first practice in June until we finish, I mean, we’re together all the time. And we don’t have to share high school athletes with basketball and then have to split that time. So, it’s more of a family than just a bunch of players getting together and trying to win a game.”
And when it comes to on the court play, Howard described his team’s identity as “high octane”.
“We need to hit, we need to have 100% offense going out because I don’t want to be freeing the ball over and letting somebody else hit it back at us,” Howard said. “When you play us, you’re going to get hit at. That’s a promise.”
The Jets’ season begins August 10 versus Bledsoe County.
