U12 Gold
Macy Lowery
Head CoachCoach Macy brings seven years of coaching experience and an extensive playing background to Oly Reign. She began playing travel club volleyball at age 10 and went on to play at Helena High School from 2015–2019, primarily as an outside hitter. During her high school career, her team reached the regional tournament three consecutive years and finished in the top eight in the state her junior year.
Macy continued her career at the University of Montevallo, competing as an outside hitter in the Gulf South Conference from 2019–2022. She was named the conference’s Champion-Scholar Athlete in both 2020 and 2022, recognizing the student-athlete with the highest GPA in the conference.
Her coaching career began during her freshman year of college as an assistant coach with NASA Volleyball Club in Birmingham, Alabama, working with 15U and 17U teams. She later became a head coach at Netforce Volleyball Academy, coaching athletes at the 12U, 13U, 14U, and 16U levels. Most recently, her 16U team finished top five at every tournament, earning two tournament championships and two runner-up finishes before ending the season by winning the Diamond Division at AAU Nationals in the 16-Ascend division!
Macy’s coaching philosophy centers on helping athletes grow both on and off the court. She emphasizes strong fundamentals and mastering the basics while helping players understand the purpose behind their work. Just as importantly, she wants athletes to remember why they fell in love with volleyball—creating an environment where they are challenged to improve, encouraged to enjoy the process, and motivated to carry what they learn beyond the court.
What drew Macy to Oly Reign is our commitment to developing well-rounded athletes and providing players with the resources and support they need to succeed both on and off the court.
Outside of volleyball, Macy enjoys gardening, crocheting, and hiking.
Francella Bronson
Assistant CoachCoach Francella brings more than 20 years of coaching experience to the Reign. She spent over two decades volunteering as a coach with the YMCA and has extensive experience at both the middle and high school levels. Francella served 7 years as a Middle School Head Varsity Coach, leading a program of more than 70 athletes alongside three assistant coaches. She also coached for two years at the high school level, including one season as a head coach and one as an assistant coach.
Francella’s own playing experience includes three years as a varsity starter in high school followed by five years playing on a competitive adult recreational team.
Her coaching philosophy is rooted in teaching strong fundamentals while helping athletes understand that volleyball is about much more than individual skills. Francella emphasizes teamwork, communication, collaboration, encouragement, and giving 100%. She believes creating a sense of family within a team helps athletes grow both as volleyball players and as people.
What Francella loves most about Oly Reign:
“Oly Reign provides many opportunities to play at different levels. There is a sense of family with each of its teams.”
Outside of volleyball, Francella enjoys volunteering with her church and other organizations, spending time with family, canning, gardening, being outdoors, shopping, and traveling.
Kate Burkhardt
Coaching Intern
Coach Kate is beginning her coaching journey after gaining experience working with a high school C-Squad team during the summer season. As a coaching intern, she’ll have the opportunity to continue developing as a coach while sharing her own playing experience and love of volleyball with our U12 Gold athletes.
Kate is also no stranger to the Reign! She played two years of club volleyball with Oly Reign and was a four-year varsity volleyball player in high school. After such a positive experience as a Reign athlete, we love having her return to the club in a new role as a coach.
Kate’s coaching philosophy centers around building athletes up and being a positive influence so they have the confidence to reach and play to their full potential.
What Kate loves most about Oly Reign:
“Oly Reign is just an awesome community and family. It’s very welcoming with awesome people! I played for Oly Reign for two years and loved it so much that I came back to coach!”
Outside of volleyball, Kate loves being outdoors, spending time with family and friends, and playing volleyball anywhere she can in her free time.