The stage is set

By Nick Giannino

» Sports Editor

If you want something, go out and get it.

Gloucester High student athletes Jocelyn Maddalena and Maria Sierra are living proof of that sentiment, and it’s because of their efforts that their school now has a brand new fall sports program.

This time last year, the duo started a club volleyball team. Practicing regularly, they pooled together enough girls to form a legitimate squad and test the waters with a trio of scrimmages against other local junior varsity teams.

Thanks to an abundance of interest from other girls at the school, just one year later that club team has turned into a full fledged varsity program.

“My friend Maria and I were both really interested in the sport and we felt as though volleyball was missing from the selection of fall sports at GHS,” explained Maddalena, a rising junior. “So we started a club team last fall, applied for an Awesome Gloucester grant to get more balls and new equipment so that we could expand, and now we had 34 girls there for tryouts (this week) which is a lot more than we ever thought would come out for the team.”

Needless to say, Maddalena and Sierra’s initial proposal has blossomed into something bigger than they ever could’ve anticipated — and it would appear the new program is here to stay.

Opening with tryouts this past Monday, Gloucester has more than enough girls to put together not only a varsity team, but a JV one as well. They have 14 matches

SEE VOLLEYBALL, PAGE 8

Gloucester High school varsity volleyball captains (l-r) Sara Fernandes, Maria Sierra and Jocelyn Maddalena will lead the school’s new program this fall.

DAVID SOKOL/ Staff photos

Isabella Ramos lunges to set up the ball during Gloucester High school varsity and JV girls volleyball tryouts on Tuesday.

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already scheduled, although at the moment none of them will take place in their home gym.

“Right now our net isn’t up to standard; it’s not tight enough if the ball were to hit it so we have some things to still figure out,” said Maddalena. “So as of now all our games will be on the road, but hopefully we can figure something out soon.”

The brand new program wasn’t formulated over night; Maddalena and Sierra put in a lot of time and energy to make it happen, including making posters, holding interest meetings at the school, and regularly posting on Instagram in an effort to draw more attention to the sport. GHS athletic director Bryan Lafata and members of the school’s committee also lent a helping hand in getting things off the ground.

Jessica Coons, who helped out with the club team last fall, was soon hired as head coach for the team, and the rest is history.

“This is all a credit to the girls. They put their heads together, put together presentations and we got more and more girls interested in coming out,” said Coons. “The girls have really committed. A lot of them did camps and things over the offseason, and they’ve all just really taken a huge initiative to make this all happen.”

Fittingly, Coons appears to be the perfect woman for the job.

A former player, she once started her high school’s volleyball program at Granby Memorial in Connecticut. She went on to play at Westfield State before a serious injury put an end to her competitive career.

“We started out as a club team my freshman year (at Granby) and eventually became a varsity team the last two years,” said Coons, who works as a special education teacher at East Veterans Memorial Elementary in Gloucester. “So it’s really kind of all coming full circle for me which is cool.

“You have to prove that there’s enough of an interest for (Gloucester High) to invest in this and put the time and money into creating a program, and these girls did that,” she added.

With Coons running the show and Maddalena, Sierra and Sarah Fernandes serving as team captains, the Fishermen’s newest program is ready to hit the ground running.

They have their first scrimmage scheduled at Danvers next Thursday, with their regular season slate commencing shortly thereafter.

As a brand new team with little live match experience, Maddalena and Co. realize their inaugural season may not be perfect in terms of wins and losses. But they are fully committed to building the program from the bottom up and making the sport an option for all girls in Gloucester for years to come.

“We’re going to try out best and we’re going to be there for each other every step of the way,” said Maddalena. “If we lose or something doesn’t go our way, we’re not going to give up. We’re just going to focus on the next point, next match, and keeping going forward.”

Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@ northofboston.com.

Kadijah Kaba lunges to make contact with the ball.

Gloucester High school varsity volleyball coach Jessica Coons runs drills with athletes during varsity and JV girls volleyball tryouts on Tuesday.

DAVID SOKOL/ Staff photos

Gloucester High school varsity and JV girls volleyball tryouts on Tuesday.