Before their varsity homecoming game on Saturday, the varsity girls’ volleyball team chose to kneel, not stand, as the National Anthem played.

Normally, the Anthem does not play at Parker home games, but homecoming is an exception.  Before the varsity volleyball game, upper school English teacher and scoreboard keeper for the game Mike Mahany announced the song, asking everybody to rise. As the first notes began, all of the Parker players filed onto the court facing the large American flag that hangs in the corner of the gym, and nearly everyone kneeled, including the Parker coaches. While they kneeled, several of the parents and other spectators from the Parker stands whooped and clapped loudly, relaying support for the team’s actions.

This protest came in support of the ones taking place at a national level, started by Colin Kaepernick, a backup quarterback on the San Francisco 49ers professional football team. Since late August, his choice to sit instead of stand during the national anthem before each game has been widely praised by Black Lives Matter activists, among others, and condemned by others, including the San Francisco Police Union.

Kaepernick has explained that he is conducting this protest in order to show that America is not the land of freedom and justice that it is sometimes held up to be, specifically in regards to police brutality.  “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said, via NFL.com. “To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

On the volleyball team, this message has been heard and received. Junior Natalie Braye was one of the people who came up with the idea. “I just think that I appreciate Colin Kaepernick and all the other athletes that have been taking a stand, and I think that it’s inspirational,” Braye said. “And as a team that’s considered a safe space for a lot of black girls and a lot of people of color, I think that it only made sense for us to stand in solidarity.”

Kneeling was a decision that made sense for almost everyone on the team. “It is something the whole team has agreed on,” junior Zoë Gardner said. “Issues of race aren’t just issues for people of color to deal with, so it wouldn’t make any sense for just students of color to be kneeling.”

The team remained kneeling for the entirety of the song, some players growing teary eyed.

All of the players and coaches from the opposing team, St. Benedict High School, remained standing with hands over their hearts.

“I think it went really really well,” junior Genesis Martinez said afterwards.  “Almost everybody on the team kneeled down, and we were just in solidarity. And it was really beautiful and inspirational. Everything.”

Both the junior varsity and varsity teams ended up losing their games against St. Benedict. Varsity lost two sets to one in a very close game.

It remains to be seen what the greater effects of this protest will be for the school as a whole, if any, but the team was sure to clear their plans to kneel with Athletic Director Bobby Starks and their coaches.