When Frontier decided to add boys volleyball to its sports department this spring, athletic director Carl Cyr didn’t need to look far to find his school’s first ever coach.
Sean MacDonald — who has served as the Redhawks girls volleyball coach since 2003 and turned the program into one of the best in the state — had been coaching the Athol boys volleyball program, but decided to make the switch and coach at Frontier, where he’ll be the co-coach with Courtney Parent. Parent is the Redhawk girls JV coach during the fall season.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” MacDonald said. “It just never aligned. Carl Cyr was open to listening to having a boys team and said if the interest was there, why don’t we get the kids playing a sport instead of being on their phone or playing video games. We got 19 boys to say they’d play and even more ended up signing up. I’ll miss the kids at Athol, it had nothing to do with them. I’m just entrenched with the Frontier girls team and adding a boys team here was something I’ve been wanting for 15-plus years. It was a tough decision but I wanted to be a part of the first team here.”
A total of 23 athletes signed up for the program and will be split between JV and varsity. It’s certainly a different coaching approach for MacDonald and Parent, as none of the players have any experience playing organized volleyball, a stark difference from the Frontier girls team which has players training year-round in the sport.
“We’re fixing a lot of bad habits,” MacDonald said. “We’re starting with the basics. We’re teaching them the basics: positions, offensive and defensive systems, even the rules. We’re trying to cram it all in before we play next week. We’re trying to teach them the right way to do things. We’re trying to get them to stick to the fundamentals but it’s a lot of new stuff they’re learning. They’re getting something new every day.”
The new players are making strides each day and have made big improvements in just the first week of practice, MacDonald said. The team first played six-on-six last Friday, as they’ve been working in small groups to assure more touches on the ball.
With MacDonald and Parent in charge, the steps forward should continue throughout the year.
“They’re picking up on it,” Parent said. “We’ve seen a lot of improvement in the five days we’ve been practicing. It’s rewarding for them when they see something work. They’re already figuring out the fundamentals and are getting better at it every day.”
While there’s a difference between the boys and girls game at the Div. 1 and Olympic levels, MacDonald and Parent don’t see much separating the two at the high school level.
It comes down to executing the fundamentals, something they’ll spend all season working on.
“The level we’re playing at, there’s not much of a difference in the game,” MacDonald said. “We’re teaching the same things we teach in the fall. No matter what it’s going to come down to whether you can serve better and pass better than your opponent.”
When you have a girls volleyball team as decorated as Frontier’s, it’s easy for MacDonald and Parent to find extra help at practice. Redhawk girls like Jillian Apanell and Sydney Scanlon have been attending practice, helping teach the boys the sport.
For Parent, it’s been a great experience getting to start a program from scratch.
“It’s been really fun,” Parent said. “I played for Sean, I’ve been coaching the JV girls with him so we both know what each other want. This is something we’re starting together.”
While Frontier doesn’t have any players with volleyball experience on its roster, it does have plenty of athletes who star in other sports.
Aleks Carey and Jack Carey have shown well at practice thus far, as have soccer players Jesse Kurkolonis, Ngawang Deter and Payton Sladeski.
“For our goals, we really want to have some fun and build a program here,” MacDonald said. “We want to get some interest and excitement for our home games and break the myth that volleyball is just a girls sport. It’s for everybody and it’s a lot of fun. We want to develop the players and train them for years to come as well as giving our five seniors a great season.”
While it’s a new squad, MacDonald still has his sights set on the postseason.
“I don’t know how it will go but I think we have a chance of making it to the playoffs this year,” MacDonald said. “That’s another one of our goals. I’m not saying we’ll be state championship contenders — this is the boys not the girls — but I think we have a shot of getting into the postseason.”
The Redhawks open the season on Monday on the road against Duggan. Their home opener is on April 7, where they’ll host East Longmeadow.