The D.C. region will be home to a new professional women’s volleyball team in 2027, and the franchise is slowly taking shape.
Last August, D.C. was , slated to start play in 2027. The volleyball franchise will be owned by the ownership group that owns Major League Soccer club D.C. United, All United Sports and Entertainment, led by investors Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan.
Recently, the franchise announced it has made two new hires as it continues to prepare for its first match next January. First, it hired Kate Greenberg, who has experience working with multiple D.C.-area sports teams, to be its team president. Then, on Wednesday, was brought in as the team’s first coach.
Greenberg and Collins-Parker spoke to 麻豆官网 about their roles, the team’s identity and future home, and the roster building for its inaugural season.
Experience builders
Major League Volleyball is the top-flight competition for women’s professional volleyball in the United States. Since its 2025 merger with the Pro Volleyball Federation, the MLV has grown to eight teams around the country. Heading into the 2027 season, D.C. will be , bringing the total to 12.
Collins-Parker is no stranger to the volleyball world. She was awarded the Honda Broderick as the nation’s top collegiate volleyball player twice during her time at the University of Hawaii. She played for the U.S. national team for seven years, including at the 1988 Olympics, and played professionally in Italy and France.
After her playing career, Collins-Parker coached college volleyball for 25 years, with stops at UNLV, Cornell and San Diego State, and won multiple conference titles. She transitioned to an assistant coach for the San Diego Mojo, leading them to the semifinals in 2024.
“Deitre Collins-Parker is a legend in volleyball,” Greenberg said. “It is such a signal for the type of franchise that we are building on the court, specifically in her case, but off the court, the standard of excellence, then the depth of experience that she represents is exactly what we were looking for.”
For Greenberg, it was a no-brainer to be a part of the growing league. She previously worked for the Washington Nationals, Washington Spirit, and D.C. Defenders in marketing and business roles. According to a release, she will oversee its “commercial, operational, and community-facing functions” ahead of its inaugural season.
“The opportunity to build a franchise from scratch, and that means everything, every piece of it, on the business side and the volleyball side, is a really unique opportunity,” Greenberg said. “It’s the type of thing that I enjoy sinking my teeth into.”
Both hope to lean on each other to build D.C.’s franchise into a winner. Collins-Parker said she was hired as an “expert in volleyball,” and she believes the ownership has assembled a front office that will help put “the best foot forward.”
“She may not understand what kind of offense I’m running, but she understands the need for me to get the best hitter that I can,” Collins-Parker said. “I think we work well together. It’s the mutual respect that is going to make the difference in everything.”
Team name, colors, logo coming soon
D.C.’s volleyball team’s identity, including its name, colors and logo, has already been developed and will be revealed “very, very soon,” Greenburg told 麻豆官网. Fans are encouraged to on the team’s website to receive the latest news leading up to its first match.
“Our name and our visual identity are rooted first and foremost in the sport of volleyball but also has unique and distinct connection to D.C.,” Greenburg said.
The team is still working through options for its training site and home venue. Greenburg said the region has several “really wonderful, viable playing venues,” and the team may not play in the same arena every year as it grows.
The team may start in a smaller arena and grow into a bigger one, with the ultimate goal of calling D.C.’s soccer stadium, Audi Field, home once a roof is added, Greenburg said. Levien told 麻豆官网 last August that he is exploring a private-public partnership with the D.C. government to expand the 20,000-seat stadium, which would include an enclosed roof.
Regardless of venue, fans can expect to be close to the court, including floor and courtside seating, Greenburg said.
“The opportunity for us here is to grow and scale the team year after year after year into potentially bigger and bigger venues until we’re able to play at Audi Field,” she said.
Currently, the eight MLV teams play in venues of various sizes, with the , setting a new attendance record for an indoor women’s professional volleyball match.
Once the logo and name have been released, Greenburg said it can start connecting with the area’s volleyball communities and selling tickets and merchandise.
‘Finding athletes’
For the next few months, Collins-Parker will be talking to agents, recruiting players, and building a roster ready for the opening serve of the new MLV season.
League rules state teams will field a 聽with no more than three international players. Collins-Parker plans to build a defensive-first team with a diverse roster that will be hard to beat.
“We’re going to have the attitude that no ball hits the floor, so if that happens, we’re in long rallies,” she recalled telling a potential player. “You’re getting to see the ball cross the net a lot, because we keep sending that ball back to you.”
While building her team, Collins-Parking, currently based in Arizona, hopes to visit D.C. to meet potential fans and build anticipation for the franchise’s inaugural season.
“The community makes the girls feel professional, and the girls being professional makes the community feel excited,” she said. “We’ve got to merge those two things and really make D.C. a special place to be and play, because people have bought in and support the wonderful women that we will have.”
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