Team Dream, the first all-Black women’s professional volleyball team, made sports history in 2018 by coming together to compete in the USA Volleyball Open National Championship.
In a sport where Black women remained underrepresented, the 12-member team defied expectations, winning the Women’s Open Division championship with a perfect 7-0 record.
Among Team Dream’s members was Carnae Johnson, a 2012 graduate of Johnson High School on San Antonio’s far North Side. During her senior year, Johnson was named the Texas Sports Writers Association’s Class 5A Player of the Year and led her team to the first state tournament appearance in program history.
She went on to play at the University of North Texas, where she was named Conference USA Player of the Year twice and earned honorable mention All-American honors as a senior.
The story of the trailblazing all-Black Women’s Open Division champions is told in the documentary We Belong Here: The Story of Team Dream, premiering at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, on the OWN Network.
During a recent interview with the Current, Johnson, 32, who works as a nurse, talked about what she calls a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience playing on the team and how that chapter in her life has shaped who she is today.
When Team Dream played together in 2018, did you realize at the time that you were part of something historically significant?
I think now that it’s resurfacing, it’s kind of brought back a lot of those memories. We really did do something great. At the time, we’re just thinking about playing with friends and people we’ve admired on the court for so long. I was just happy to be a part of it. But looking back now, that was a once-in-a-lifetime thing we did. We broke barriers.
What do you remember about the first time you walked into the gym and realized this team could do some damage in the tournament?
They really put in the work to choose the right players. When we walked into the gym, it was kind of intimidating. I knew a lot of the girls, but we really didn’t know what we were walking into. A lot of us had been away from volleyball, so we were hoping the muscle memory started kicking in and we’d be able to compete.
Is there a moment during the tournament that has stayed with you all these years?
I just remember the amount of energy in the room – for every game. We were having so much fun. We had joy in our hearts. I remember the hustle and how we left it all on the court. We had this attitude like, “No one can touch us.” We were confident in ourselves and in our teammates.
Why do you think this story needed to be told now?
Women’s volleyball has a lot more work to do to get Black women and people of color in a space where they feel comfortable. Top teams sprinkle Black women in here and there, but we want people to know that we are a force to be reckoned with, and we won’t be silenced. A lot of people try to put us in a box. It’s like, “This Black woman is too much. She’s too hype. She’s got an attitude.” But that’s just our confidence. I think we were able to show that on the court in 2018. We were unapologetically us. We were going to make sure people knew we were there. That’s huge for any Black little girl or Black teenager that’s coming to their own in the sport. They don’t need to water themselves down to play a sport they love.
How has that chapter in your life shaped who you are today?
I’m not the type of person who likes to ruffle feathers, but being with those women at that time gave me confidence. So many times, you get labeled as an angry Black woman or someone will say, “She has an ego” or “She’s not a team player.” But I’ve gotten to a space where I’m going to stick up for myself. I’m going to be who I’m going to be. Our coaches wanted our team to come out and be bold.
Do you think what you accomplished with the team would still be significant today if you hadn’t won it all?
Honestly, no. They would’ve said something like, “They tried, and they failed.” But we went out there and made a statement. We were ourselves, and we were able to beat those teams. It got people talking. We didn’t have to tone it down for anyone, and we killed it. If we didn’t win, it probably wouldn’t have been a huge story. It might’ve been a little whisper, but now, it’s blown up.
Did you know at the time there were people out there rooting against you?
One hundred percent. But we just stayed true to ourselves. We knew what we were doing could be something if we pulled it off. We wanted to be the voice for those little girls who were in the stands thinking, “This is so cool!”
What do you tell those people who would argue that if someone put together an all-white team of players, we’d be having a different conversation.
I would say to those people, you haven’t been watching volleyball because then you’d know that there are already all-white teams. So, let’s try to be more diversified. You just have to treat us with respect and treat our culture with respect. We need to feel seen, heard, and to feel like we’re in a safe space.
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