BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Jamie Segars, after one year of being the Bradford Middle School head volleyball coach, is now ready to take the reins of the head coaching position at Bradford High School.
“Mainly, I am excited and motivated to use the talent that we have here and bring in what I can and scout out what I can’t so I can provide for these girls the best I possibly can,” Segars said.
Segars, who lives in Melrose, said the head coaching experience she received at BMS has prepared her for her new job.
“I learned a lot about managing a team instead of just bringing skills and my knowledge of the sport to them,” she said. “I learned managing and being consistent and having a plan for the entire season and not just for practices. It was something I needed to work on as a coach.
“That’s part of being a coach. You’re always learning.”
Segars began playing volleyball in sixth grade. She said she doesn’t remember exactly what it was that made her want to give the game a try, but what she does remember is why she stuck with it. During tryouts, a coach told her she was a natural athlete when it came to volleyball.
“The confidence I lacked was really picked up by a coach,” she said.
She played the positions of setter and right side, so she laughed when she said, “Defense is not my specialty.” She’ll leave that part of the game to Paris Shanks, a BHS graduate who played volleyball.
“She’s very, very experienced in defense, which is one of the reasons why I chose her as my co-coach,” Segars said.
Segars moved around a lot as a youth. She actually played for BMS her eighth-grade year before moving to Lakeland, where she played for Lakeland High School for a year. Segars got to be a part of that school’s varsity team when it went to state, “which was really cool as a freshman,” she said.
Her final three years of high school were spent in Tennessee. Segars then had the opportunity to play at Walter State Community College in Morristown, Tennessee.
Segars eventually moved back to Florida to be with family and was eager to find a position so that she could “continue my career in volleyball in a different way.”
She had previously coached as an assistant at Keystone Heights High School before being recruited to go to Bradford Middle School and take over that program.
“I gave it a shot. I got here and fell in love,” Segars said of the volleyball program and BMS, where she taught. She added, “I fell in love with the students. I fell in love with the athletes and the potential there.”
Segars started a local travel-ball program that consisted of 16U and 18U teams. She hopes to keep that program going and to grow it. It’s a way, she said, of “being able to keep these girls learning and growing with the sport as opposed to two months playing and then the rest of (the year) off.”
“A really big goal of mine is to keep the program all year round,” Segars said. “Volleyball is a very short season, especially if you don’t take it past districts.”
Having camps and open gyms is a part of that equation. Segars said this summer, players are working on developing as athletes, utilizing score sheets to track their progress.
The goal isn’t just to make better players. It’s to create a team in the truest sense of the word. That includes bringing players together outside of the gym. Segars said she wants to take the players on a “bonding trip,” which might include playing beach volleyball at Kingsley Lake or somewhere else.
“The main focus here is actually getting the girls together,” Segars said. “Getting them together outside of a school setting, outside of the court — building, bonding and really understanding each other and learning how to communicate better with each other.”
Part of the bonding process this year will include players getting used to a new coach. Segars said she’s not the kind of coach to yell, as that’s just not part of her personality, but she is demanding and has expectations of the players. They’ll understand that from the get-go.
“Unfortunately, you have to come in hard (as a new coach), and you have to come in having to earn that respect and then maybe easing up as you build those relationships,” Segars said. “If not, you’re going to lose that whole team.
“I want these girls to feel like they can rely on me and trust in me.”
Segars hopes some of that trust is earned by allowing the players to share their ideas for the program. For example, Bradford will play in a couple of tournaments this upcoming season. Segars said she wants her players to watch how other teams play and to think about how what those teams are doing could benefit their own team. The questions she’ll pose to her players are, “What do you see this team doing that you’d like to see our team do? How can we get there?”
“Incorporating their ideas, I believe, is effective because they’re more willing to work toward (those ideas),” Segars said.
Segars said one of the goals for the 2022 season is for the program to improve upon its ranking, noting that BHS is ranked 411th in the state. She’d like to see the Tornadoes move up into the 200s.
That, however, isn’t the ultimate goal. Segars wants to see each player improve. When she was the BMS coach, she’d sit down with each player and discuss the areas in which they grew and what areas they still needed to work on.
It also isn’t about just individual growth. Segars said it’s about a player doing the things to make her teammates better as well.
Players may not currently be at the level she’d like to see them at, but the new head coach is eager for the start of the season.
“I’m excited to start,” Segars said, adding, “I’m a little nervous about it right now because of the habits and things we have to dissect and reform, but I’m very, very excited to get these girls back into the atmosphere of volleyball.”
The community is apparently excited, too. Segars created an Amazon wishlist for items the program needed, and thanks to community support, all items were obtained. Segars said she and the players wish to express their gratitude for all who supported in the program in that way.
