Former Incline Girls’ Volleyball coach inducted into NIAA Hall of Fame
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – Former Incline High School Girls’ Volleyball Coach Artis Brandt has been inducted into the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Hall of Fame during a ceremony on June 13 at Peppermill Resort and Casino in Reno.
Brandt began her coaching career as the head of Incline’s girls volleyball program in 1975-76, the same year the NIAA first sanctioned the sport and just three years after Title IX passed. Although Title IX required female athletes to have the same access to sports as male athletes, it didn’t mean things became immediately equal, so Brandt spent the first year as a coach, fighting for her girls.
“When Title IX came around, it meant equal time in the gym, but the basketball coaches weren’t really receptive to that,” Brandt said.
The volleyball team was relegated to the last practice slot of the night, meaning they were practicing until 9 p.m. on school nights for every practice. Brandt met with the basketball coaches and the Assistant Principal to make sure the teams rotated practice times, so the girls weren’t always the last of the day.
She immediately had success with her girls. In 1977 and 1979, her teams received state runner-up trophies. They then brought home the state championships in 1982 and 1984. The 1981 and 1982 teams had a run of 42 consecutive regular-season victories.
When asked about her coaching strategy, Brandt said, “you’ve got to work hard to win.”
“I was a stickler for warming up. The girls, they loved it, we worked hard and that’s how we got our first championship,” said Brandt.
Although she also added that they were lucky enough to have real talent on the team.
“It was a combination of that and that everyone worked well together, they just gelled,” said Brandt.
In addition to coaching, Brandt also helped establish several tournaments, including the Incline High School Girls Volleyball Invitational Tournament and the Doubles Grass Volleyball Tournament.
Brandt left Incline to move to Montana in 2002, after 26 straight years at Incline High School but continued to come back to cheer on her team for several state championships.
“That was a tough decision to decide when to leave,” said Brandt, who added she got emotional at the end of every season.
Even after being away for over 20 years, she still kept in touch with many of her players and members of her 1982 team attended the Hall of Fame ceremony.
“The game has evolved from the beginning years, I was very lucky to be in at the ground level,” said Brandt.
In addition to coaching volleyball, Brandt also helped coach the shot and discus track and field teams for 15 years, cheerleading for two and softball for one season. She was also the schools’ Director of Activities for 20 years.
She credits a lot of her success to her husband, Richard Brandt, for who helped support her passion. He coached football at Whittell High School and Brandt said she would sit behind the goal posts so that she wasn’t seen sitting on one team’s side or the other.
When it comes to her final thoughts on volleyball – “I just love the game,” she said.
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