Meet GALA, the team that engineered its own net

By Luca Evans
Published in Los Angeles Times on September 4, 2022

It’s more an invention than a volleyball net. A do-it-yourself-engineering project. It’s built on a delicate pulley system with ropes that dangle to the court; carabiners bought on late-night Lowe’s runs and pure, unadulterated vibes.

The Girls’ Academic Leadership Academy (GALA) volleyball team practices in a tiny gym a winding walk away from the main campus, where trash is swept into a dusty pile in the corner. Their coach, Katie Clark, is a 25-year-old science teacher in her first job out of college. The court gets slippery because of sandbags that players pile on the bottom of the poles to hold up that net, leading Clark to once slip like a cartoon character on a banana peel while running lines with the team.

Oh, and GALA won the City Section Division IV title in the program’s inaugural season last year last season.

“We’re still a second-year program with low funding, a weird net, and everyone’s just like, ‘Have a good time,’” junior India Clark said.