A popular DC concert venue will transform into a volleyball court this winter. The Anthem will be the home court for the DC Flight, the district’s first professional women’s volleyball club.
Starting this January, the concert venue will host 13 home games. The court will be directly on the concert floor. The venue can hold up to 3,000 fans, from courtside to upper-level seats.
“When we built The Anthem almost 10 years ago, we designed the space to be transformative, to feel just right whether you’re at a punk, country, or hip hop show with 6,000 other standing fans, or enjoying a seated symphony, book talk, or comedy show with 3,200 others,” Donna Westmoreland, chief operating officer of I.M.P., said in a recent press release. “That’s how we’ve hosted thousands of events featuring pop stars and presidents, and, now, world class athletes.”
DC’s First Professional Women’s Volleyball Team
The Flight is DC’s fourth professional women’s team – joining the Washington Mystics, Washington Spirit, and DC Power. The team’s inaugural season will be led by head coach Deitre Collins-Parker and club members Rhamat Alhassan, Rainelle Jones, Jaelyn Hodge, Danica Markovic, and Birdie Hendrickson.
“Volleyball is taking off, and women are leading the way,” said Jason Levien, chairman of All United Sports and Entertainment and principal managing owner of DC Flight with Steve Kaplan. “Collegiate matches are setting attendance records. Youth players are taking the court in historic numbers. Washington is ready for a professional team of its own, and today DC Flight takes off.”
DC will be one of four new expansion teams joining Major League Volleyball. The others include the Minneapolis Forge, NorCal Rumble, and a team in Los Angeles.
The schedule and ticket options have yet to be announced. Even though the team doesn’t have a game under their belt yet, the franchise is hoping to host a MLV All-Star Weekend and MLV Championship series in the near future.
Feature rendering courtesy The Anthem
