Karl France has been the NYU Men’s Volleyball Assistant Coach for 14 years over two stints. He was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2017. France served as the NYU Women’s Volleyball Acting Head Coach for the last nine matches of the 2017 season, leading a Violets team that had won only five of 24 matches before he took over to a 6-3 finish, including the title at the New York Region Challenge. He also served as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s programs at NCAA Division I Rutgers-Newark University and NCAA Division III College of Mount Saint Vincent for four seasons each.

The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.

Never Able to be Angry

“I have been told I am too nice. Who wants to have the prototypical angry Black man on their staff? If I lose my temper, I could lose my job. That is unfair but that is how the game is played. Those are the rules. With any Black coach of significant stature, a parent is going to think you are angry all the time if you are ever angry or show any fire,” commented the large-framed France, who stands 6’5”.

He has been confronted by parents, including one parent who accused him of making his daughter cry: “I knew a lot about her situation and why she was crying. If I had yelled at that parent, I could have put a fork in my career. When you are Black, you have to be the calm coach in public and private at all times. You can never be angry.”

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