New Falkville volleyball and softball coach Meaghan Gray, works a drill during a volleyball practice. | Special to the Enquirer

Meaghan Gray steps in as head coach of Falkville softball and volleyball

Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

Some opportunities rarely come around, so when the opportunity came for Hartselle native Meaghan Gray to return home to Morgan County to teach and coach, she knew she had to take it. Starting this school year, Gray will be the head coach of both the varsity volleyball and softball teams.

Gray has always had a solid sports background. “My parents put me in all different sports when I was growing up,” Gray said, “they were hoping I would wear off some of the energy I had.”

Gray would participate in just about everything available including softball, basketball, volleyball, soccer and cheerleading. However, as she got older she decided that she should stick with basketball and softball. “I felt that I should stick with one or two sports and try to concentrate on getting better,” Gray said. “It was just too much to try and participate in several sports at the same time.”

When she got to Hartselle High School  she felt she had been well prepared thanks to teams she played on in the past.

“When I came through Hartselle, city league was pretty big and it along with playing many years of tournament softball helped me prepare for the high school level,” Gray said. “The biggest difference was the amount of pressure that was on you each game.”

Gray would learn how to be a true competitor when she played and pitched at Hartselle as a part of the very tough Hartselle softball team. “It taught me how to fight to be the best,” Gray said. “We prided ourselves on competitors being afraid of us when we walked onto the field.”

Gray would be a part of several successful teams at Hartselle reaching the state play-offs and being in the top five each year, including one that finished runner-up in the state, which she says has helped her in her transition to coaching. “I feel like being on the those teams helps me to reach these girls better,” she said. “I’m able to tell them that I’ve been there and I know what it feels like to consistently win as well as deal with the toughest losses.”

Once she was out of high school she didn’t know she wanted to be a coach until she got a taste of it. “I helped coach a travel ball team and I really liked it,” Gray said. “I thought I could be successful at it so I decided to go for it.”

After high school Gray went on to play four years of college softball, the last two being at Alabama A&M. Once out of college, she took a teaching and assistant coaching job at Carroll High School in Ozark before choosing to come to Falkville.

“I was only seeing my family a few times a year which is hard for me because I am a huge family person,” she said, “So when the opportunity came to teach and coach at Falkville I had to take it. I was also familiar with the Falkville softball program because I was an assistant coach there while doing my student teaching.”

Now that she is at Falkville she hopes to lead a successful volleyball team that is coming off a trip to the state tournament. “I’m not really sure which players we lost because this is my first year,” Gray said, “but I do know they must have been good if they carried Falkville to state. Every single senior you lose impacts your team.”

However, the Blue Devils will have several key players this year that can help them make a return trip to the tournament. Among those are Bailey Engle, who will return as the Libero,  Brooke Alexander, Emily Hill and the rest of the senior players. The Blue Devils will also have plenty of young players that will have to step up in order to get Falkville back to state. Falkville will have plenty of tough teams to play this season including Danville, Hartselle, Priceville and what Gray considers to be the biggest hurdle which is Addison.

Gray is new to Falkville ,but she is excited to get started. “I’m ready for the season to start. I think I can help these girls reach their goals.”