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On Tuesday, Zion Chapel High School announced that Britney Keene has been named as the school’s new head volleyball coach.

Keene is a native of Florida but graduated from Kingwood Christian School near Birmingham before graduating from Auburn University. Keene coached tennis at Charles Henderson High School and has also been a teacher at Russell County High School and Zion Chapel High School. She was also a volleyball official for a number of years. It was her time at Russell County that attracted her to volleyball.

“At Russell County I had a mentor that was really big on volleyball and I stepped in and helped her out (with the volleyball team) anytime she needed it,” Keene said. “Coaching is my passion, any sport, and Cody (Keene) and I had talked about that when the time was right maybe I could step into a coaching role (at Zion Chapel). I really hadn’t been able to do it because we have three little kids but they’re bigger now and it felt like the right opportunity at the right time.”

Her husband, Cody Keene, is the head football coach at Zion Chapel and she said that coaching together at the same school was a dream come true for the couple.

“This place is very special to us,” Keene said of Zion Chapel. “For us to be at the same school and community we know supports us and our family is special. It’s kind of a dream come true for him to do what he loves and for me to be able to do what I love.”

Keene said that she hopes to continue building on the foundation that former coach Chelbie Mobley helped lay with Zion Chapel Volleyball.

“Coach Mobley has done a good job the last couple of seasons of getting them together and building the program,” Keene said. “We have some good talent coming up from junior high to varsity and some good returning players on varsity. My goal is for us to get better each year and improve and I’d also like to see us compete in the area and win an area championship and make it to regionals. The ultimate goal is to win state but we’ll take it one step at a time.”