The Arlington Cardinals are back at the ‘B’ state volleyball tournament this week for the first time since 2014. They enter the event as the No. 3 seeded team, and they’re coached by Josie (Parry) Weber, who is a former player for Arlington.
Weber was a senior the last time Arlington made the state tournament. They placed 5th that year. Weber played for high school volleyball coaching legend Anita Boeck, who is the second winningest volleyball coach in South Dakota history with 731 career wins.
“She was fantastic, and she was the one that made the Arlington program what it is,” explained Weber. “[Anita] just set such a high level of expectation for our program, which is just a fabulous thing, and I learned everything that I do from her, so I’m just really grateful that I got to play under her.”
Weber took over as head coach in Arlington in 2019. In her three years at the helm, Weber has been blessed with the opportunity to coach her younger sister Grace Parry, who is a senior this season.
“At first, I was a little skeptical, but it’s been smooth. Honestly, when she’s on the court and I’m coaching, I feel like we’re very good at setting a barrier between life, family life, and then family life,” Weber said. “It doesn’t feel like she’s my sister when she’s playing, and I don’t think it feels like I’m her sister when I’m coaching.”
Grace Parry echoed her older sisters remarks about the opportunity of sharing this experience with one another, and separating family and team.
“We just had to establish that boundary early on – we need to separate emotions on the court and off the court,” said Parry “I go over to her house every night and we just talk about normal life, but then we can also sit in the living room and watch film together.”
Josie and Grace’s parents are also coaches in their own realm. Lisa, their mom, was an assistant coach on the volleyball program for 10-years. She stepped away from coaching to become the Arlington school principal in the fall of 2018, and their dad Mike just retired from 24-years of coaching the Cardinals boys basketball team.
“I was use to my parents coaching me. My mom was assistant coach and my dad was head basketball, but for your sister to be, that’s just a really cool experience,” Parry stated. “I get to share this experience with her and it’s been awesome. She’s been great.”
It would be an understatement to say Arlington is excited to be back at the state tournament this week. For this year’s Cardinals squad, it’s about making the most out of the experience.
“We are so excited, especially after a few year’s out of it. These girls haven’t been here yet, and just being able to experience it, it’s such an experience and they’ve worked so hard to get here,” exclaimed Weber. “We’re pumped for sure.”
As far as career statistics go, Grace is currently Arlington’s No. 2 all-time ace leader with 249. No. 3 on the all-time aces list for the Cardinals is Josie (Parry) Weber. It’s safe to say that both sisters have left their mark, in more ways than one, with the Arlington volleyball program.
