Athletes Unlimited expands pro opportunities

Athletes Unlimited (AU), the only U.S. women’s pro volleyball league, will play its 2023 season in the Phoenix area this fall. It will be AU’s third campaign.

Like AU’s other women’s sports—softball, lacrosse and basketball—the premise of each league is based on player decisions and team performances. “Win points” in AU volleyball matches are accumulated in both individual sets and overall match wins. The total score decides the overall match winner, which could mean that a team may lose two sets and still win the overall match.

Blaine native Taylor Morgan, whose married name is Taylor Reid, is a member of the AU’s Player Executive Committee. She was part of a nine-match exhibition tour that started in March, playing against college teams at Ohio State and recently concluded at Penn State. Her team played at Minnesota on April 4.

Afterward, Reid told the MSR it was her first time playing at Maturi Pavilion since she graduated from Minnesota in 2019. She finished her Gopher career with 97 matches played, 280 sets, 514 kills, 283 blocks, and two-time All-Big Ten, as well as an honorable mention All-American as a junior.

After college, Reid had hoped to play pro volleyball overseas, but then COVID hit. “I was feeling anxious and running out of time. So I decided to start coaching,” she said.

Reid started coaching, first as an assistant at Louisville in 2020, where the team won the Atlantic Coast Conference title and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. She also did a similar stint at Florida Southwestern in 2021.

“I live in Fort Myers [FL], and I coach a club [team] called USA South,” said Reid. Since joining AU, the 6’0” tall Reid appeared in all 15 matches during its inaugural season and finished 13th on the leaderboard with 2,551 points, seventh in the league with 23 blocks while playing middle blocker.

Reid said she loves the format. “My leadership skills have gone up, and my voice, my true authentic adult voice, has come out.” There are no coaches, but team captains make calls and draft players for the rosters. 

“She’s the one [team captain] that’s in charge of doing the lineups,” explained Reid. “It’s us together rather than a coach. This is where I can really try new things and just flourish in my own personality, and be my own person and develop my leadership skills.”

AU documentary planned

Last week, AU announced a new partnership with Boardwalk Pictures to develop a documentary project, which will be unscripted and follow players’ lives on and off the soccer field and basketball court during their respective seasons.

“The athletes of Athletes Unlimited are truly creating a new model for pro sports and providing opportunities for countless women to achieve their professional dreams. Their stories are among the most compelling in all of sports, and we are so proud of the truly unique league we have created,” said Cheri Kempf, Athletes Unlimited senior vice president, in a release statement.

Boardwalk has produced several award-winning projects, including “Cheer” and “Last Chance U” on Netflix. 

“We’re excited to work alongside AU, capturing compelling stories about these outstanding women,” said Broadwalk CEO Andrew Fried.