MESA, AZ— Leland native Alisha Childress’ volleyball accolades could probably go on forever: Michigan’s Miss Volleyball and Gatorade Player of the Year, three NCAA championships, multiple All-American and All-Big Ten honors, a gold medal in the 2014 Women’s World Championship, and the 2016 Olympic Games “Best Setter”, just to name a few.
After a six-year break, Childress returns to the sport with three daughters, and a newfound motivation for inspiring women.
“I was a little fearful [to return]. It hadn’t been done a lot. It certainly hadn’t been done after three kids and after six years of not playing the sport,” Childress said. “I think there’s been a big push or call out for women to play longer to be able to have kids and come back and really be supportive of moms in sport and I think I feel that I want to be able to step out on the court and represent women and show them that they can do it.”
Childress is currently in her second season with Athletes Unlimited Volleyball, a five-week long league where each athlete plays for a cause special to them– with money being donated to said causes by the league at the end of the season.
“The one thing that just kept coming back in my mind was, I want to be in a jersey that says Childress, our family name,” she said.
This season, she’s playing for the Childress Family Foundation, something her husband, Josh, started to give back to his high school. And this year, at the end of the season, Alisha will be able to give back to Leland High School.
“So, my goal in this is anything that I raise here, I want to do the same at Leland High School. So, I want to give it back to a student athlete at graduation for them to go pursue whatever it is that they want to pursue,” the setter said.
The Athletes Unlimited season concludes on Nov. 6.
