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LaFayette has a new head volleyball and softball coach. Megan Agee will be taking the helm of both teams this year and is eager to grow the women’s programs at LHS. 

The Washington State native and Jacksonville State Alum will be teaching P.E. at Eastside Elementary School during the day and working with the older girls at the high school for the team’s fall and spring seasons. 

“I was just kind of keeping my eyes open for different opportunities and the opportunity presented itself at Lafayette for both volleyball and softball. And then they actually had an opening at the elementary school for a PE spot. And I was sold right then,” Megan said. 

Megan’s husband, Craig Agee, is currently a history teacher and coach at LaFayette High School. 

The dual-sport coach grew up a dual-sport athlete.

“Softball is my, my first love…I played that from about 10 years old, all the way through college. I played at Jacksonville State University,” Megan said. “So obviously I had a little more experience in softball, but just athletics in general, I played pretty much anything you can think of when it came to school sports.”

While softball took her focus after high school, Megan said she had played volleyball all the way from elementary school to high school. She has encouraged her athletes to play any and all sports they are interested in.

“I know a lot of people like that sports-specific kind of training…But anytime you are kind of diving into sports, you don’t want to just have an athlete pick one and think that’s the only one out there,” Megan said. “It also makes you more well-rounded. It actually makes you better at maybe your best sport, to have a little more experience in other areas of athletics.”

While her coaching experience at the high school level has mainly been on a volunteer basis in her home state, Megan has years of experience in Physical Education and working with young athletes. 

“I worked with sixth graders, so a lot of my focus was to make sure that girls in sixth grade did want to try out for different things, and didn’t feel that they couldn’t,” Megan said. “Just showing them that there is fun in those sports, to kind of build a program starting at a younger age.

Currently, the softball team does not have a JV team to pull talent from. 

“I’ll even stop and talk with the middle school girls and encourage them to come out and really build a program to where maybe we can get to the point where we do have a JV and a varsity squad,” the coach said. 

While the volleyball team does, the coach said most of the girls that she has met are returning high schoolers. Megan’s goal is to build up both programs in terms of depth and skill. Through her role in the elementary school and her experience in middle school, she hopes to spread awareness of the opportunities available to girls in the LaFayette community. 

“I guess it’s a good thing that I’m starting with volleyball. I will build that rapport with the girls that come out,” Megan said. “My goal is to get as many of those volleyball girls as I can to come out for softball as well.”

She said part of the issue with young girls getting into sports is they do not think the opportunities are out there. 

“Once you get in seventh grade, a lot of the girls don’t know that there are sports available to them,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you want to come play [on the team]. Come out. I’m going to work with you. We’re going to get you [on] at least the basics to be ready to play, whether it’s volleyball, whether it’s softball, and if you have any questions about any other sports, I am hopefully here to build the female programs in LaFayette.”

While the recent hire is still finding her footing and meeting her players, she hopes to hit the ground running at the first volleyball practice on Monday. Like many experienced coaches Megan’s main goal for her first year as skipper is to build a culture for her teams. 

“Getting the girls to buy into the program, getting the girls to buy into what I am wanting to bring to the table,” she said. “Obviously wins are good. But if we can build a team where I have girls that want to be there, want to play and want to play for each other and play for their school, that’ll take care of a lot down the road.”