- If you've been driving around West Michigan highways lately, you've probably seen the talented faces that make up Grand Rapids Rise, the area's first professional women's volleyball team.

Today we are at the MSA Fieldhouse, crashing a practice and talking with some star players who are making history, let's go.

(upbeat music) So I'm here with Grand Rapids Rise head coach, Cathy George, and I had to pull out my notebook for you.

You've had such a storied career.

You led MSU for 17 seasons, and you were the winningest coach in MSU volleyball history.

You were also the first woman to coach in an NCAA D1 final four, that is history breaking, I think, in and of itself.

How does it feel to be here in Grand Rapids, breaking history yet again?

- Well, it was really part of the thing that lured me here is just the whole startup thing and how do we get women to be able to move into the future in a way that will help them be professionals.

- How does it feel to be back in your home region playing?

Because beforehand, did you ever think that you'd be playing professional volleyball here?

- No, I really didn't.

And honestly, it's a dream come true.

This wasn't really an avenue that I thought was possible after I graduated college.

So when it came up, I just had to jump on the opportunity because like you said, it's in the area that I'm living in and I get to pursue my passion and also get to keep my home life as well.

- You're back with Coach George and she was your coach at MSU, correct?

- Yes.

- Wonderful.

How does it feel to be under her leadership again?

- It's great, I mean, she just cares about her people so much and that's the reason why I love her so much and was easy to, of course, jumping on the opportunity to play under her again.

- [Kylie] This is not your first rodeo in professional volleyball?

- It's true, it's true, I've been playing for a while, Thailand, France, I was in Germany for two years.

I was in Poland, then I went to Italy.

So a little bit all over the place.

Took a little break, I had my baby, but now I'm back.

- Wonderful, and congratulations.

Are you a new mom?

- Thank you.

No, she's almost two now, but I haven't played in like three years, so it's been a while.

- How does it feel to come out after that break and be able to play again and let alone here in the US?

- Yeah, it's different.

I mean, it brings its own set of challenges.

Before, you are worried about yourself, most of the time, and now even when you leave practice, your mind is still on keeping a small child alive and it's really crazy, but it's super fun.

Like it's fun for her to be able to see me play too, I think, is really exciting.

- How does it feel to tell those talented athletes you can stay in the state, you can pursue your dream right here in Michigan?

- It hasn't been something that they're able to do.

And being a coach for so many years, I talked to a lot of collegiate athletes who said, hey I don't know, should I go that far away to play?

I really love it, but I don't feel comfortable doing that.

And then there's others that have jumped in and haven't been happy with that experience.

And then there's others that love it.

So we just wanted to make sure that this was a opportunity that women were able to have to use their gifts, I mean, the things that make them special in their career.

And it's really unfortunate that it had to be the way it was, but now we have options here in the state.

- What took it so long for professional volleyball to come here?

- Well, I just think that over the years, there's been so much collegiate sport and the focus has been in certain areas and now women are seeming to really make a breakthrough in terms of the fan bases and the TV viewerships.

And people are starting to take notice that people really enjoy watching women's sports.

And for such a long time, I don't think people gave it the credit that it deserved.

And I don't think that the fan base was pushed to actually watching it to the same level.

So once people started up with it, they started to see, hey, this is awesome.

The Big 10 networks started a while ago and when they started to say, not only are we going, but we're gonna go ahead and we're gonna make sure that we're highlighting all the sports, you saw the viewership start to pick up.

(players cheering) (upbeat music) - There are a lot of young players who are gonna look at you and say, if she can do it, I can do it, have you had any aha moments like that so far?

- I think honestly, well, one, just being a mom, having my daughter have that option and know that that's available to her is amazing.

I don't even know if she'll like sports, she's only like eight months old, so I don't know.

But yeah, we also signed autographs after the game for our home opener as well.

And just seeing all the young girls just so excited about the sport and so excited that there's something in their city or close by for them, it's really awesome and definitely a privilege for us and something that I don't take lightly.

- [Nia] So for young girls to be able to see that like they can go to a game, a professional, and watch it or watch it on TV and it's so much more accessible to them.

It gives them the chance to really dream big.

And I love that so much.

(upbeat music) - [Kylie] What do you hope comes from GR Rise?

- There's so many things, I do wanna see in 20 years to see it be where it is a norm and I don't want people to take it for granted at all, I don't want anybody to be entitled, but I do want it to be something where this sport people really love it the way that I do and the way that our players do and they understand why it should be something that they celebrate and it's entertaining.

The thing I really am enjoying is watching our players being loved by this community.

So it's been really cool and they're feeling it when they go to Target or Meyer or wherever they go, wherever they go, they're going out there and people are just really stopping them and saying thanks and they're really making 'em feel welcome.

- [Kylie] What do you hope to bring to Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Rise?

- Championship.

- Good answer.

- That's my goal.

Yeah, I definitely wanna win.

So I would say that is definitely my top answer.

But after that, just kind of leaving a legacy for people to come even next year and the year after, but making sure that this really sticks so that they can build something for the generations to come after this.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Celebrating vibrant people, captivating places, and remarkable things, this is "Living West Michigan."

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