Oak Mountain names Curry's Anna Claire Harris as new head volleyball coach – Shelby County Reporter

Andrew Simonson Sports Editor

North Shelby – After months of searching for new leadership, Oak Mountain High School has selected a new head coach to continue the success of its volleyball program.

Anna Claire Harris was approved to become Oak Mountain High School's new head volleyball coach by the Shelby County Board of Education at its regular meeting on Thursday, May 16th.

She was then introduced to the community at a welcome ceremony held at Oak Mountain High School on Friday, May 17th.

Harris said meeting the new players and their families made him even more excited to start the game.

“We are very excited to have Coach Harris on board,” said OMHS Athletic Director Chris Bright. “From our first conversation with her, we knew she would be a great fit for our program: her vision, her experience, her way of communicating. I'm really excited to have you.”

Harris most recently served as the head volleyball coach at Curry High School. In her only season at the helm, she led the Yellow Jackets to a 33-17 record, winning the area championship and qualifying for the second round of the Class 4A North Super Regional. .

Prior to becoming head coach, she served as a volunteer coach for the volleyball team and as a college track and field coach.

She played four years of varsity volleyball at Walker High School (now Jasper), making the Elite Eight all four years, including one Final Four appearance, and was selected to the North-South All-Star Game in 2015. She also played basketball. And tennis.

She then played volleyball at the University of Mobile, and in the four seasons she played there, the team qualified for the NAIA National Tournament twice.

As a coach, Harris wants his players to be fundamentally sound and improve on small things in their pursuit of perfection.

She also values ​​communication and wants to foster an environment where players and their families can talk to her about anything and where the players can get along well on and off the court.

“I'm very passionate and very vocal, but I also believe that communication and energy can make or break a team,” Harris said.

She admits that her passionate side can seem intense at times, but above all she strives to give her players a strong Christian influence and help them grow as young women.

“They don't realize it yet, but when it comes to volleyball, what I teach doesn't matter at the end of the day, because if I'm not a good witness for them and a good influence and role. , if I'm not modeled after them, I'm not doing my job,” Harris said.

Harris had high praise for the players after meeting them and believes they can achieve great things together.

“They seem to have a big head on their shoulders and they look very gentle, but I'm looking forward to next week putting them in hopefully uncomfortable positions and seeing how they react,” Harris said. . “But based on what happened tonight, just based on what we saw tonight, I think at some point in the four years they have now, they're going to accomplish big things. .That's easy to say.”

Coincidentally, Harris previously played club volleyball for former Oak Mountain coach Grace Burgess. Burgess left after the 2023 season to coach at Homewood.

Harris sees many similarities between himself and the current Shelby County Coach of the Year, who led the Eagles to a top-10 ranking and a Super Regional in 2023, and is looking to build on Burgess' foundation to lead the program to the next round. I believe we can move forward. level.

“I think she and I have a lot in common in terms of making sure the players are focused and prepared in practice, but she’s also very good at keeping the players encouraged. He’s doing a great job,” Harris said of Burgess. “She has a lot of energy as well. So, building on that and honing it down to kind of the fundamentals so that the girls come prepared every day and get 1% better every day with good attitude and hard work. I think it will be easy for us to continue if we do that, and I encourage her to help us get started.”