Former Wildcat is 'excited' about leading a resurgence with Bloomfield VB

BLOOMFIELD – Coaching volleyball comes naturally to Brasley Conner, despite her lack of head coaching experience.

The 1999 graduate of Bloomfield High School was the setter on an MSHSAA District championship squad in high school and was a self-professed “crazy mom up in the stands” through the years, as she has watched her four children compete in varying sports.

Having said that, she admits to having “first-time jitters” as she embarks on her initial season of guiding the Wildcat varsity volleyball program at her alma mater.

“I’m a little nervous,” Conner said. “But I am excited.”

Conner spent each of the past two seasons as an assistant with the program, as it struggled to 17 combined wins.

“Last year,” Conner explained, “(former coach Toni Hill) and I came in with the idea of revamping everything. We started from scratch and got back to fundamentals.”

Hill resigned to take the Associate Executive Director position with MSHSAA, and told Conner, who played for Hill when she was a Wildcat student-athlete, that “she was ready.”

“No matter how old you are,” Conner said, “you are going to have those first-time jitters.”

Conner, who is a special education aide with Bloomfield Schools, has spent this summer stressing fundamental play and trying to build on the foundation that she and Hill laid with the players last season.

“We played in a summer league with some good teams,” Conner said. “It was a good opportunity to get our feet wet.”

Bloomfield volleyball has labored through recent seasons.

The Wildcats have not had a winning season since 2018, but Conner knows what the program is capable of.

Not only was she part of a successful Wildcat program, but Bloomfield won six consecutive District titles from 2014 through 2019 and finished fourth in the MSHSAA Class 2 State Finals in 2014.

“That is a goal of ours,” Conner said while glancing up at the banner that recognizes her team’s accomplishment from 23 years ago.

She knows that the Wildcats won’t, perhaps, be world-beaters this fall, but they can take a step in the right direction.

“I think that we will be competitive,” Conner said. “We saw that a lot this summer.”

Bloomfield battled a number of really, really good programs (Gideon, Clarkton, Portageville, etc.) in its summer league, and showed potential.

“Some of the teams that we struggled with last year,” Conner said, “some of the things that we got to do this summer, like playing with the speed that we used to play with.

“My goal is for them to compete every night. I don’t want us to go home and think that a team walked all over us. That is not Bloomfield and has never been us.”

Conner said the numbers in the program are a challenge – for now. However, she has plans for the future.

“At the elementary (level),” Conner said, “they have to love the game. Middle school is too late for them to fall in love with the game. The younger kids have to have a ball in their hands.”

Bloomfield will open its 2023 journey with its first official practice on August 7.