When Red Bay High School’s Gracie Weatherford, surrounded by family and friends, teammates and coaches, sat down and signed to play volleyball for Northwest Shoals Community College on November 1st, it was a scenario little contemplated by the senior until recently. When Weatherford was in the eighth grade, the Lady Tigers volleyball program was just getting started; her playing career since has helped elevate it. Now, joining a brand new program at NWSCC, Weatherford will have a similar opportunity with the Patriots as one of the members of their first signing class.
“I’m really thankful for this opportunity to get to do what I love and expand my platform and everything that means,” Weatherford told the Franklin Free Press. “For my family, I mean it’s really an important thing for us. Volleyball came to Red Bay my eighth grade year, and I didn’t expect it to become as big of a thing as it became for me. I didn’t believe I was going to play volleyball in college—I didn’t think it was in the cards until this opportunity came up.”
Just as the fledgling RBHS volleyball program was growing, Weatherford was growing up with it. That experience, she said, taught her patience and about “growing pains,” as she called it. But that process with Red Bay also influenced Weatherford’s decision to join the nascent NWSCC program. The opportunity to be a part of an inaugural signing class and the start of a new project was alluring to her.
“It was a big thing that went into my decision, that I came from this (situation) before, but obviously on a high school level,” she said. “I thought it was just really neat that I could have this same platform and role in college as I did here (at Red Bay). I want to be a part of what’s going to be a great program at Northwest. I think Red Bay’s a great program, and I think it’s gonna continue to be, and in the same way I wanna be able to say that I’m a part of doing that at Northwest.”
NWSCC announced the addition of women’s volleyball back in early July, and then a month later handed the reins of the program to Susie Tverberg. While Weatherford may not have expected the opportunity, Tverberg, with 14 scholarships at her disposal, was very keen on getting the Red Bay standout’s signature.
“She was my first offer for the program,” Tverberg said. “She’s the type of kid that I wanted to recruit right from the beginning.
“She has this unwavering commitment and love for volleyball. She plays school ball, she plays club ball, and she plays beach volleyball, so she basically plays all year round,” Tverberg added. “That’s what you’ve got to have: you’ve got to have someone that loves it that much, and it’s evident by watching her play that she really loves volleyball.”
Weatherford clearly has the talent to make it in the college ranks—“Her athleticism and her skill set is what sets her apart,” Tverberg told the FFP. But second-year Red Bay head coach Elizabeth Scott added that she believes Weatherford’s maturity and determination will also be big for her next team.
“She brings positivity to the team during tough times and keeps a level head at all times,” Scott said of the Red Bay team captain. “Her hard work and drive to succeed will carry over to her collegiate career and even to adulthood. Gracie has high expectations for herself and pushes to be the best she can be.”
Weatherford takes pride in the effort and work she’s put in to arrive at this point in her volleyball career, but it’s clear when talking to her that she doesn’t rest on past performances.
“I do work very hard for everything that I’ve gotten, and I’m not one to back down,” she said. “If I’m on the court or if I don’t get on the court, I’m gonna do what I have to do to make myself needed—I don’t make excuses as to why. I fix what I can fix, and I don’t worry about what others are doing; I’m concentrating on what I did and the things I can do to make myself better.
“I’m good about, like, when I go back and watch game film, picking out what I can do better and what I can do to help my team,” she added.
Given Weatherford’s pursuit for perfection on the court, it only makes sense that when asked what she was looking forward to when she hits campus in Phil Campbell next fall she said it was being around more like-minded, competitive student-athletes—teammates with “the same purpose.”
“Obviously we have a great group of girls at Red Bay, but some of them are more there, you know, kinda for the high school experience. Others are there to compete,” Weatherford said. “I’m excited to be going to a place with girls who are all on the same page.”
It’s no wonder, then, that Tverberg wanted Weatherford. That type of purpose-driven attitude, the Patriots’ head coach said, is what she was looking for when recruiting student-athletes to join her at Northwest Shoals.
“You’re building a program on what you’re hoping it’s going to be and trying to sell that to recruits,” Tverberg said. “We want to build a roster of competitive athletes that not only want to come in and make an impact but want to make our name known. We want to be competitive and we want to come in and beat teams we’re not supposed to beat. As I’m building the team, I have to keep that in mind.
“I really think (Weatherford) can come in and have an immediate impact on our program—she’s just that type of kid,” Tverberg added. “Her dedication and commitment is unmatched, and I just think that’s going to be extremely valuable to the program because you’ve got to have someone that loves it and wants it as much as you play in college.”
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