Full-circle moment: Former LaGrange volleyball player Megan Smith named head coach
Published Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 8:00 a.m.
A new woman has been appointed in charge of volleyball at LaGrange High School. She is a familiar face as the school promoted Megan Smith from assistant to head coach.
This is a full-circle moment for Smith, a 2009 graduate of LaGrange High School. Smith was a standout on his volleyball team as a junior and senior.
“It's really a full-circle moment. You don't know how much this means, because it was kind of an accident that I played volleyball. I can't say that, but from a young age I played basketball and didn’t start playing volleyball until high school,” Smith said. “
For most of her life, basketball was the sport she knew and loved. Smith grew up in a basketball family, and with her family being her biggest inspiration, she began coaching her AAU travel ball.
“Before the (COVID-19) pandemic, my dad, brother and I coached AAU basketball together for over seven years,” she said. “We always had houses on the street where the kids would spend the night, or there just happened to be an extra kid sitting at the table. So I learned to be a leader, to be considerate, and to always look outside of myself. I learned from my parents how to pay attention.”
Smith switched from basketball to volleyball during her sophomore and junior years of high school. When she stepped on the volleyball court for the first time, it was love at first sight for her.
Despite playing just two years, Smith earned a chance to play in college. She took her talent across her state to Payne College in Augusta, where she applied her skills over two seasons.
“I played college ball in college and learned a lot,” Smith said. “I was really happy to be around that and to continue playing after high school. When I was a freshman in college, I felt like it was really crazy that I could play volleyball in college, so I decided to play in the NBA It felt like I was establishing myself.”
Although she claims Augusta is her second home, Ms. Smith has truly settled into the LaGrange community. She grew up here, fell in love with volleyball here, and she knows what it's like to be a Granger.
Smith has seen volleyball grow significantly in the field over the past 15-plus years. Now, she has a real chance to take the sport even further into the future as head coach.
“Volleyball wasn’t that big, so now that I was playing,” Smith said, recalling her playing days. “We didn't have club ball like we do now. I wanted to play on a club team in high school.”
Smith has served as an assistant coach and head JV coach, but this is his first time juggling all the logistical aspects of leading a program.
“I’m already adjusting my schedule, making plans and getting my wheels spinning,” Smith said. “Next Tuesday will be our first open gym. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of faces will be attending the gym and tryouts.”
Volleyball season doesn't start until the fall, but for Smith, the world has already begun. The team is holding open gyms as early as next week, and tryouts are scheduled for early May.
She has soaked up information like a sponge in the Lagrange program for the past three years. As her head coach she found every way to improve herself.
Smith has also learned a lot about herself during her time coaching volleyball and plans to apply those personal lessons to her time as a coach.
“I had a boys coach in basketball, so when I started coaching volleyball, I had to coach girls for the first time, which made me more calm and taught me a lot about communication. ” she said. “I'm passionate about volleyball. I'm passionate about kids. I'm passionate about motivating them and I've come a long way in these three years. I did.”
The goals and aspirations are high for Smith. Although she wants to grow the program and win championships, her main goal is much simpler. She wants the girls to thrive, flourish, and blossom while on the volleyball court.
“I want them to learn things they didn't know about themselves, and volleyball just helped bring that out,” Smith said. “I want to give them a path to self-esteem, and I want to use volleyball as a vehicle for that.”
Smith is not an interim player, and this is not a job that is a springboard to the next position. LaGrange volleyball is family to Smith, and now she's ready to take her turn as the program's matriarch.
“When I was going to school to be a Granger, it was a big deal. So being the head coach at LaGrange High School is a big deal,” she said.
