The Greenwood volleyball team practiced earlier this month in preparation for the upcoming middle school season. The program has not lost a game in two years. Seth Daniel photo
Dorchester’s Sarah Greenwood School, a dual language K-8 schoolhouse on Glenway Street, has become a city volleyball powerhouse with two straight middle school championships and consecutive undefeated seasons.
The Greenwood’s tiny gym offers a scene from a long-gone era— its walls likely have more paint chipping off than staying on— with a ceiling decidedly too low for volleyball play. But fourth-year head coach Tucker Welch has made it work, shepherding players from beginners to citywide standouts, with many now going on to lead high school teams like Madison Park.
Welch insists that he’s no brilliant volleyball mind with years of experience. In fact, he says, he learned the sport by watching how-to videos on YouTube.
“I was actually trying to get a basketball team going but they wanted me to do volleyball instead,” he said noting that he was told that Greenwood sports teams in the past “were a joke.
“I started learning everything I could online about volleyball, and we worked hard, and the first year we went 10-1, only losing in the championship game after our best player left with an injury.”
Former Greenwood player Camila Martinez (Madison Park/New Mission) and current player Jossie Diaz in the Greenwood School gym earlier this month in front of the 2023-24 Middle School City Championship banner. Photo by Seth Daniel
Volleyball has seen a resurgence nationwide, but especially in Boston, where some, put off by soccer, were looking for another activity, while others were attracted by the high-profile social media footprint the sport commands.
As a result, Boston Public Schools (BPS) teams are seeing growth in numbers and competitiveness, and, increasingly, girls are playing for club teams outside of school to sharpen their skills.
“I think the real question about volleyball is what took us so long to get into it, myself included,” Welch said. “It’s a great vibe…and the atmosphere volleyball creates for the girls is super positive. It’s a great game requiring commitment, teamwork and the necessity for athletes to have a short-term memory and move on from mistakes.”
Last week, a dozen players practiced in the cozy Greenwood gym with a former player, Camila Martinez, a 10th grader who played at Madison last year and will play for New Mission next year, acting as assistant coach.
The middle school volleyball season is “short, fast, and furious” and runs in the spring as opposed to the fall season for high school. The sounds of volleyballs bouncing and serves smashing echoed through the gym, with Welch and his players readying for their season.
Coach Tucker Welch, of Dorchester, said he knew nothing about volleyball, but learned as much as he could online and has found great success at the Greenwood ever since. Seth Daniel photo
Jossie Diaz, an eighth grader from Fields Corner, is one of the team’s leading players, but she hadn’t heard of volleyball until she got to the Greenwood. A long-time tennis player at Sportsmen’s, she felt she needed a change.
“I wasn’t that good at tennis after playing from kindergarten to seventh grade, and then once I found volleyball I wasn’t that good at first,” she said. “I started playing for a club team as well as the Greenwood and improved a lot. I feel like we really have to give a lot of credit to Coach Tucker… He showed us if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.
“Volleyball has changed my life a lot,” she added. “I dedicate a lot of my time and effort to it and I’m so happy coach introduced me to volleyball.”
Greenwood Principal Antonelli Mejia, who has ushered in a great deal lot of change besides volleyball at the Spanish-English dual language school, said volleyball has become their “thing,” with lower grades often practicing at recess in preparation for the day they can join the middle school team.
“Coach Tucker has done an outstanding job building not only a successful volleyball program but also a culture of commitment, accountability, and pride among our students,” he said.
“Our girls have shown what is possible through hard work, discipline, and believing in one another. They are working so hard, and their success brings tremendous pride to our school.”
Off the court, the family atmosphere has become a distinct part of the program. Former students and players routinely come back to mentor and coach. Last year’s City Championship MVP, Noelia Guerrero, had previously served as assistant coach in her off-season, and this year Martinez is filling the role.
Martinez said volleyball was a mystery until one day at recess she saw eighth graders in a circle hitting the ball around. She asked if she could join, and that soon turned into a request for an official volleyball team.
A member of the initial city championship team at the Greenwood, Martinez’s name adorns the title banners in the gym.
“It feels good and it’s great to see that even though we leave the Greenwood, they carry on our legacy and I’m proud of that and of Coach Tucker,” she said. “I love the sport so much and I’m passionate about it…I love that volleyball doesn’t work without teamwork.”
She also said the team changed her life, even after she left for high school. “Before I had very little to look forward to after school and didn’t have any plans. Volleyball gave me something to look forward to and see my friends.
“No matter what kind of day you’ve had, you know you’ll get to play volleyball afterward, she added, “and that makes it better. It has changed my life for sure.”
Welch, a fulltime social worker at the school, said he and other coaches in the BPS system now focus on getting out-of-season opportunities for their players at affordable prices. Most off-season club teams are out of reach financially for city kids, but a partnership with the Boston Alliance has allowed any player to participate for around $60.
“It’s so important to build skills in the off-season, and the girls want to play,” he said. “We had 193 girls come to tryouts in the late fall without having much clarity on the gym time we would get.”
This year, he said, they are moving to partner with Boston Athletic Academy – the youth sports program run by Jose Diaz and former Red Sox pitcher Manny Delcarmen, a Boston Public Schools graduate – to start a club team moving forward to offer dependable access to facilities.
But for now, the Greenwood players plug along in their unspacious gym on the corner of Glenway and Harvard Streets perfecting their serves, practicing their sets, laying down some serious spikes and dreaming of another undefeated season, and successful high school and college careers.
But most apparent to everyone is the fun and friendships that have formed. “There’s a family kind of environment here,” said Welch. “A lot of the kids have been around each other for year and have had a lot of practice together.”
