In early May, Bellevue announced the hiring of the program’s next volleyball coach Jaimie Hickey.
Hickey is coming from her first head coaching stint at Poolville last year, where she coached the girl’s basketball team. That came after a decade served as an assistant coach in all manner of sports at both the junior high and high school level at Bowie and City View.
While she thought of herself more of as a basketball coach, Hickey wanted to work closer to where her family was living, with her husband Corey working at Bowie schools as the transportation supervisor.
Bellevue reached out to her and she was convinced after sitting down with principal Lori Shoemaker and superintendent Wade Wesley.
“I felt like it was a good fit for me and where I am heading in my own career and profession,” Hickey said. “A little change of scenery will be fun.”
The Lady Eagles are entering only their third season of volleyball.
Despite the inexperience, the numbers have been good and Bellevue made a jump in its second season by competing for a playoff spot within the district, finishing fourth overall.
The team loses only one player to graduation as most key players enter their third season playing the sport and graduate to being upperclassmen as well.
Being a part of that journey appealed to Hickey, recalling her time at City View as she helped turn the Lady Mustangs volleyball program into a respectable one that routinely makes the playoffs.
Her one year serving as head coach at Poolville was one where she learned a lot.
“The experience of going from the second seat to the first seat was an experience in itself,” Hickey said. “I am very used to working behind the scenes. That was an adjustment. But all the positions I have held have prepared me.”
She describes herself as a teacher on the court, emphasizing the student part of the student/athlete.
Hickey wants her kids to know the game and understand the why of things, meaning her athletes should be ready to listen since she has been told she is quite chatty when talking techniques and concepts.
“I want them to have enough that they grasp it, so that in the moment whenever they do it, all the work made it worth it,” Hickey said.

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