Built by Brown: Clay-Chalkville coach guides team from winless seasons to championships

Kardasia Hitchcock bent down to touch the blue paint on the baseline of the Clay-Chalkville High School gymnasium. She wasn’t there to stay, as that would be too easy.

Instead, she rose up, sweat dripping from her game jersey, only to repeat the process on the other end. Hitchcock, along with the rest of the Cougars’ varsity volleyball team, was running back-and-forths at the tail end of a Class 6A, Area 12 blowout victory over Pinson Valley in October.

Why? Because there’s a promise to keep — a promise that just four years ago was born under the eyes of skeptics.

Hitchcock and four of her teammates — Anastasia Brackin, Briana Brown, Lexie Payne and Jaszia Bowie — who now make up the 2016 senior volleyball class weren’t so sure when they first met their head coach as ninth-graders.

“When I first met her, I really didn’t do anything that she said, we were just like, ‘What are you saying?’” said Hitchcock.

Those five athletes came from humble beginnings on the hardwood. In the fall of 2011, they endured a winless season to conclude their middle school careers, sending the group into high school with an elementary understanding of success.

The coach challenged with the task of changing their mindset and inserting a winning mentality into a struggling freshman class was Natasha Brown.

Brown brought with her a coaching methodology that seemed “wrong” to her players, at least at first. 

“When she [Brown] came, it was a whole different ballgame,” said Bowie. “We were like, ‘We don’t like this lady; there’s something wrong with her.’ Then we started winning.”

“They met me in July [2012] and it was sort of a shock for them, because of how passionate I was, how loud I am, but they knew that I had high expectations,” said Brown. “They knew that they were going to work hard.”

In the midst of all the sweat-stained practices of 2012, Brown made her girls a promise.

“I guaranteed them that, not only would they win a game, they would win several games,” said Brown, who eventually led those freshmen to a 22-6 season.

It didn’t take long for the players to buy into what their high-intensity coach was selling. After winning the 2012 Husky Challenge tournament hosted by Hewitt-Trussville, the girls knew there was method to Brown’s madness. Their approach went from questioning to believing.

“When we met her, we had never had a coach that was on us or hard, so it was kind of hard to adapt, but then we started winning and we got with it,” said Hitchcock, who has gone on to record over 900 kills and over 1,000 digs in her prep career.

As the junior varsity program grew stronger under Brown’s order, the school decided to promote her up to varsity after two years. She made the move up to varsity at the same time Hitchcock, Brackin, Briana Brown, Payne and Bowie did, and the relationship only grew from there.

“I see where [Brown’s] coming from because she wants us to be great, but now that I’m a senior and I’ve been here for four years, I’m used to it and I know what she expects,” said Briana.

Brown replaced Jeanine Hannah as the head varsity coach prior to last season.

“I learned a lot from [Hannah],” said Brown. “She established a good foundation, and I’m just trying to keep that history going.”

Since Brown and the girls that she now refers to as her “babies” jumped up to the varsity level together, winning championships has become the expectation for Clay-Chalkville. Together, Brown and her girls have recorded back-to-back Jefferson County championships along with a perfect 12-0 mark in Area 12 play.

“It’s an emotional time for me. It’s a pivotal time for me, because after this game, it’s playoffs and it’s just a matter of win or go home,” said Brown prior to her team’s sweep of Pinson Valley. “I’m expecting a lot from this group.”

Despite their success, the seniors aren’t satisfied with their past. They want a little more in these final games.

“Our goal is to make it to the Birmingham CrossPlex [for the state tournament], and we’re just going to keep fighting until we get there,” said Payne.

One thing that will make the fight winnable for the Cougars is the bevy of experience provided by this senior class, who have been playing together at the school and club level since seventh grade.

“They have good chemistry, they definitely know what to expect from one another and they play off one another,” said Brown. “Collectively, I consider them to be a very passionate group, so they communicate and they spend time off the court, so that helps with their chemistry as well.”

Brackin is the only senior that has missed significant time with this group, but her junior year in Enterprise wasn’t long enough to break a bond that’s been built over time.

“I know how to set my players, because they’re all different players and each one of them likes something different than the other one,” said Brackin. “We basically grew up together, so we all have a bond. We’re just like one big family.”

In a sport where communication is at a premium, Clay-Chalkville’s senior leadership gives it a chance to do some special things. From players understanding one another to players understanding their high-minded head coach, the Cougars rarely lose their grip on the “correct way” of doing things.

“If you don’t communicate, you won’t be able to score points the correct way,” said Briana. “There’s no way you can possibly win a game against an adequate opponent without communicating.”

As soon as that communication breaks down and focus is lost, it’s back down for another trip to the blue paint, and that drives this group of five to succeed both on and off the court.

“I love Coach Brown. She’s hard on us, and that’s what makes us win and compete better,” said Payne.