Reporter's notebook
The meaning of 'student-athlete'
By Candace Begody
Navajo Times
Dec. 30, 2009
Having played and covered sports for years, this reporter has seen her share of athletes, teams and coaches - some successful and some not so successful. This year, I decided to spotlight those individuals and teams who have opened our eyes to new possibilities within the sports arena.
Either the athletes have brought meaning back to the phrase "student-athlete" or they have inspired their peers and communities, or they possess a unique talent.
Wingate Elementary runners
When I first ran in my first Junior Olympic race, not much older that those 30 runners from Wingate Elementary who qualified for regionals in November, there weren't many Natives. It brings hope for a brighter future that our youngsters competed at this level at their age.
Alvina Begay and Brandon Leslie will tell you that it is a lot of miles, running shoes, endurance, and sheer determination to deal with the pressures of running in a high-level race.
Wingate sent 18 boys and 12 girls, ranging in age from 7 to 14, to the USA Track and Field Region X Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship in El Paso, Texas. They competed against teams from the Four Corners states and Texas in bantam, midget, and youth divisions.
Indigenous Soccer Cup
In my experience on the reservation, the most popular sport has always been the sport you go to if you get cut from football.
But for the gold medalists at the 2009 Indigenous Soccer Cup held in Las Cruses, N.M., soccer has presented only positives.
"To a lot of Native youth," said St. Michaels, Ariz., resident Eddie Webber, the volunteer coach and co-founder of the local team, "the game is still new, but it's a healthy sport and it can be positive for the youth."
For Joe Webber, the team's other co-founder and son of Eddie Webber, a three-year Indigenous Soccer Cup competitor and the 2008 Navajo Times Soccer Player of the Year, the game is simply fun.
"It's fun for me and I grew up with it all my life," said Joe. "I like it because I met a lot of new people, new Native Americans."
The team includes players from across the reservation.
Coaches of the year
In April, Chinle's Ned Curley was named the Navajo Times boys' coach of the year and Monument Valley's Robert Nash as girls' coach of the year in basketball.
Both thanked their players, assistant coaches, and their families.
"You should always give the credit all the way to assistant coaches," said Nash. "There's a lot of work that goes into it every week, year round. My team, they should get all the credit for these kinds of things. They put a lot of hard work into all they did on the court.
"Some (credit) should go to the family," he added. "They're the ones that understand you have to stay late after practice."
A veteran of area basketball, Nash has coached plenty of championship teams and once again guided the Monument Valley Lady Mustangs to a 3A state championship in 2009.
First-year head coach and Wildcat alum Curley also coached his team to their first state tournament appearance ever and to a 3A North Region championship.
Gallup coach calls it quits
In February longtime Gallup girls coach John Lomasney called it quits.
What do family and the ocean have in common when it comes to Lomasney?
Well, if you follow Bengals basketball then you'd know that family and the ocean were both reasons enough for the longtime head coach to walk away after 28 years and four New Mexico state championships in classes 4A and 5A.
"I want to be able to spend more time with my family, with my grandchildren," Lomasney told the Navajo Times. "I want to see the ocean. In all my years as a basketball coach I never could find time to go and see the ocean and I want to do that now."
Lomasney came to the area in 1973 to teach but his efforts as a coach raised basketball to a whole new level producing all-around star athletes, packed gyms of loyal followers, and class dominance.
Page pitcher
Did someone say the next Jacoby Ellsbury?
Actually, he's the first Vincent Littleman from LeChee, Ariz. and the University of Arizona's newest recruit to Wildcat baseball.
Meeting this left-handed pitcher, one would not guess that he was playing for a Division 1-A National Collegiate Athletic Association team.
First off, he's quiet, shy and doesn't say much. And second, he doesn't brag about being one of the few recruited to one of the top 15 baseball teams In the U.S.
"I felt really shocked and overwhelmed by it," Littleman said. "I never thought about playing college baseball, especially from where I'm from."
Littleman led the Page Sand Devils to their first-ever state tournament win since the school moved to Arizona's 4A conference 20 years ago.
Bates qualifies for finals
Michael Bates makes three things looks easy: wrestling steers, roping calves and acing homework.
In his first two years at Mesaland Community College in Tucumcari, N.M., the Mexican Springs, N.M., cowboy qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo twice and earned All-Academic Team honors awarded to the top 40 college students across the country.
In the rodeo program's 11-year history, the school has only sent one national qualifier - that is until Bates joined the team.
Wingate's Davis wins state title
Some of us complain when we get a slight headache - try wrestling under a whole lotta pressure in the New Mexico state wrestling tournament with a week-old neck muscle injury.
Wingate High's Miles Davis, a junior at the time, had to if he wanted to fulfill one of the most important goals in high school.
Despite a grueling first period and nearly unable to stand, Davis pushed through to win the championship in the Class 1A-3A 119-pound weight class in February.
"I surprised myself," Davis said. "...I had to push it until the end. I couldn't give up for a second. I couldn't stop until the end."
TC's Orman, Yazzie
Tuba City sophomore Ryan Orman won individual honors in the fall as the 2009 Arizona 3A state cross country champion and led the team to a third consecutive title.
Then, his teammate Ryan Yazzie, a junior, collected four gold medals at the 2009 state track and field meet. Yazzie won the 3,200-meter run, the 1,600 and 800 and anchored the 4x800-meter relay, nearly breaking the records in all four events.
Yazzie is has been dubbed the first distance runner to win all four events in a single state championship meet.
The Warriors now have 20 championships, tied with Hopi High for highest Arizona state titles earned. The 3A conference can expect that the Warriors will be back to defend the titles.
E-mail this story