Taking a page from professional athletes around the country, members of the DeSoto High School volleyball team knelt during the national anthem before a match Tuesday night.

Players said they were kneeling to protest the treatment of black Americans by police, telling KXAS-TV (NBC5) that the next black man shot could be their dad, brother or boyfriend.

The act of protest was captured on cellphone video and — like similar protests by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Seattle Reign midfielder Megan Rapinoe, among many others — has drawn both support and criticism online.

Among a number of supportive comments on one Facebook post that congratulates the team for taking a stand, one commenter questions whether the students have suffered from police brutality and contends that there are better ways to protest.

"If these kids want a better relationship with police officers, why not host a Barbeque, or do something that is positive?" he writes.

The team's coach, Rhea Reed, said she was proud of the players.

"I support their decision 100 percent," she told NBC5. "In no way does their stance take away from their love of country, our service men and women or the flag. It is an outcry for compassion, understanding and change."

The president of the DeSoto ISD board of trustees, Carl Sherman, released a statement that was supportive of the team.

"In DeSoto, we teach our students to become thought leaders and active participants in their educational process," he wrote. "While their actions may make some people uncomfortable, I applaud these students for exercising their First Amendment rights in a civil, non-confrontational way."

Sherman went on to say that schools are charged with preparing students to be problem solvers and productive citizens.

"None of us have the right to infringe on the rights extended to our young people as American citizens," he wrote. "I am thankful for our coaches and administrators who allowed our students to take the road less traveled. It is my prayer that it makes all the difference for our students, our community and these United States of America."

DeSoto ISD Superintendent David C. Harris also released a statement, calling the protest "a peaceful, non-confrontational action for our young adults to communicate their frustrations and fears for events taking place beyond DeSoto."