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09/17/2014 12:00 AMOn the heels of two straight postseason appearances by the Hand girls' volleyball team during her tenure, Ally Johnson is ready to continue the Tigers' upward spike within the SCC and Class LL Division.
The Branford alum and former Hornets' volleyball player competed in the sport at Manhattanville College before returning to Connecticut and moving from athlete to mentor as a coach. Following joining the Hand staff two campaigns ago as an assistant, Ally now assumes the next step as the new head coach of the Tigers this fall.
"I am really excited for this opportunity," says Ally, who also coaches girls' basketball for the Hornets during the winter season. "I couldn't ask for a better group of girls to work with. I expect great things this year, as the girls have all really worked hard this offseason."
While many of the team's returning players are very familiar with Ally via working alongside her as an assistant, she feels that the center of any squad's success comes from working as one body toward a solo objective. Furthermore, she adds that any little way she can help them reach their targets makes her job that much sweeter.
"My approach to coaching is that a team needs to be working together and working to reach one collective goal," says Ally, who also played hoops while at Branford. "If you don't have that, then you can't be successful. The success of the team centers on everyone, not just one person. I just like having the girls wanting to learn about the sport, and then seeing them excited when they've won or done something that was new to them that I helped them with."
Ally's volunteer assistant coach Giovanni Meyer says that she has all the right requirements to make a phenomenal impact at Hand.
"She's hit the ground running because of her rapport with the girls as a former assistant," says Meyer. "She encouraged preseason training and set the bar high for them both as individuals and as a team. She has great experience with the sport and cares for them team. I think her experience will translate well to coaching."
Ally understands that having a group facing new leadership can be difficult, though the girls have welcomed their new head coach with open arms and have already made tremendous strides in the brief preseason.
"The girls have been very receptive to me and my way of coaching," Ally says. "Change can always be hard, but they've shown me that they want to learn and get better. I've already seen great improvement from them."
A year ago, the Tigers suffered first-round 3-1 exits in both the SCC and Class LL State Tournaments to Sheehan and Danbury, respectively. Ally states that the Tigers' main goal in her rookie year as bench boss is to return to both brackets, yet make their stays in each a little more lengthier this time.
"As far as short-term goals for this year, we want to make it back to the SCC and state tournaments," Ally says. "But we want to make it a little further than the first game. Eventually, we want to build it up to playing for and winning both those titles."
The road to conference and state gold may seem like a long one as the campaign gets under way, although based on the heart and hustle Ally has seen out of these current Hand players, it's a destination that can be reached.
"These guys have really put in the effort this offseason with the leagues, camps, and work outs they've taken part in," says Ally, who thanks Hand Athletic Director, Craig Semple. "They've gotten better each week and other teams can expect a lot from us early on this season."