Louisville, KY (SummitCitySports) – When she was just a child, Janelle Didion was traveling the country with her sister Meghan, competing against high level volleyball teams. Their parents ignited in both daughters, a love of the game. Decades later, and the sport has taken root in their family tree.
Didion spoke with SummitCitySports at the Adidas Bluegrass Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. There, her daughters Elli and Layla were among the sea of players. The competition is one of the largest volleyball tournaments in the world — with more than 1,000 teams entered playing on over 150 courts.
“I was recruited to IPFW and that’s kind of where it all started for me,” Didion shared. “Most of the coaches I coached with went to IPFW — so we’ve just all been family for a long time.”
She played with Ashlee Robbins, co-owner of Empowered Volleyball Academy. Now, she coaches alongside Robbins, as well as working at the club. Didion is heavily involved in both of her daughters’ volleyball careers. Her youngest, Layla, is only ten — but playing with teenagers!
“When I first started volleyball, I played with people older than me,” Layla said. “And now I’m just playing with older people now.”
During games, Didion is ‘coach’, rather than ‘mom’. “She pushes me harder than when she’s a mom,” Layla added. “And it just gets me better each day.”
Older sister Elli is part of a select few chosen for Fort Wayne’s most elite, skilled team with Pineapple High Performance. At 16-years-old, she’s embraced the grind that is club sports.
“I’m pretty much, just school and volleyball right now,” Elli described. “Go to school, right after that, I have a little break, go right to practice, go home and sleep — and I do the same thing over and over.”
The girls lead the intensity and passion their family has for the sport. As a parent, Didion and her husband are just offering the resources and support to help them be successful.
“Every day we’ve got practice,” Didion says. “And on the days we’re not practicing they want to get extra reps.”
“Ellie and I go to cycle class two times a week, so we can get extra endurance training in,” she added. “So if we’re not directly having practice, they’re doing something to keep them ready to play at the next level.”
As for Didion’s sister Meghan — she no longer lives in Fort Wayne. She played collegiate volleyball at Indiana State University Athletics. Meghan later married her high school sweetheart, Bernard Pollard, who led a successful football career in the NFL.
“My sister coaches for a club — I coach for a club,” Didion continued. “My niece plays, and both of my girls play — so when we’re coming to big tournaments, it is a family reunion.”
“My brother-in-law likes to take pictures of the kids,” she said of Pollard. “Because with them six hours away, it’s not like we get to see them every weekend — unless it is volleyballs season. It’s just really nice to have that family connection.”
Uncle Bernard was a vicious, hard-hitting safety for the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens, retiring from the Tennessee Titans.
Now, he’s rekindled a life-long passion: photography.
“Photography started when I was at South Side High School,” the former NFL player described. “Taking photography classes, shooting pictures for our yearbook.”
“I got away from it when I got to Purdue University because I found out — football was a job!” he said.
“The technology has changed so much in the last few years,” Pollard told us. “After I retired, I kind of got back into it, with us having four kids and shooting their sports and doing different things.”
The hard work Didion and the rest of her family put into club volleyball is already beginning to yield impressive, memorable results. Elli continues to get better, as well as her teammates. As a sophomore, she had the 2nd best hitting percentage for the Indiana High School Class 4A State Champion Carroll Chargers. Her sister Layla cheered her on the sidelines as a supporter… and future rival.
“When I watch her play, I want to always get to her level,” the 10-year-old shared. “And I just want to get better than her.”
Didion however, hopes the lessons they learn pushing themselves individually, while working with others on a team, will stay with them through the rest of their lives.
“I hope it’s showing them how to be good, kind humans,” Didion explained. “And if you work hard, good things come. But I also hope this sport leads them into a great future.”
As for Elli, she hopes to play collegiate volleyball, just like her mother. And when it’s time to pick a career, she wants to continue working with athletes as a physical therapist.
Didion and her sister are recreating their childhood, and intermixing quality family time, with fierce competition.
“They’re playing club volleyball,” Pollard says, of the sacrifice each family makes. “It’s paying the club fees, it’s the travel, it’s the time commitment, it’s the food — and we’re a family of seven!”
“I”m not complaining,” he emphasized. “We’re creating memories.”
“The volleyball community is like no other community,” Didion concluded. “We definitely feel the love while we’re here — cause you’re seeing people you’ve coached, the people you’ve played with. I’m 43 years old, and I’m seeing people I’ve played with when I was 12 and 13 here at these tournaments.”
“Everyone pours back into their kids and it’s just amazing.”
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