BROWN DEER, Wis. — Brown Deer High School is making history this upcoming school year with two new sanctioned sports: boys volleyball and girls flag football.
The boys volleyball team is set to play their first conference game in school history in less than a week — a milestone years in the making.
Head Coach Rachel Kass said the demand from students had been building for years before the program finally became a reality.
"The guys have been asking for it for like three years at least. Year after year, they want a boys team, they want a boys team," Kass said.
Kass made a significant personal sacrifice to lead the new program, stepping away from the girls volleyball team she had coached for six years.
"I've really loved my time with the girls, and so it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make as a coach. But the opportunity to grow the game in our community," Kass said.
For the team's captains, senior middle/outside hitters Josiah Garner and Isaiah McIntosh, the announcement still came as a surprise.
"I was actually very surprised that volleyball was going to be in Brown Deer," McIntosh said.
"Everybody was pumped; we were excited. We couldn't wait. I know, like, boys have been waiting; parents have been waiting to get us in there," Garner said.
Despite the uncertainty that comes with any first-year program, the team has hit the ground running.
"We were kind of like, I don't know how it's going to be, how the season's going to be, but starting off now is actually pretty great, and I appreciate her putting in the effort and time because this is the first program of volleyball," McIntosh said.
The turnout at practice has exceeded expectations, and the energy on the court has only fueled the team's drive.
"It's crazy how many boys are here honestly, so I guess that's what's keep feeding us. I guess the more people we have on our team, the more smiles, the more, you know, encouragement we get from our co-captain, and it's kind of crazy," Garner said.
Kass said the players' enthusiasm has made the challenge of building a program from scratch far more manageable.
"Makes my job so much easier because they all just kind of really want it, and they just want to be better volleyball players," Kass said.
As for what opponents can expect, Garner had a simple message.
"Get ready, we're coming," Garner said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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