Giving hope, direction to Native youth

(Times photo - Paul Natonabah)

Instructor Nana Allison-Brewer shows campers the proper technique to return a serve during the Native American Volleyball Academy camp June 12 at Navajo Prep in Farmington. (Times photo - Paul Natonabah)

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It all started with a dream.

Nana Allison-Brewer wanted to play volleyball. Then she wanted to coach.

And now, she coaches Division I college volleyball players at South Dakota State University.

From June 12 to 14, she coached a special group of girls at the Native American Volleyball Academy at Navajo Preparatory School.

About 30 high school and middle school volleyball players displayed the same drive she had when she was their age.

"I think it means so much to her," said SDSU volleyball graduate assistant Jaymie Swift. "I think she see herself in them. It gives other kids like her that hope."

Swift was one of three coaches who assisted Nana, as most call her. The other coaches were also female and all are Native American.

The camp is in its third year.

Starting the camp was no easy task but Nana was determined and three years later she sees much progress.

"NAVA, it's more like a baby for me," she said. "After playing college at the University of New Mexico, having girls come out for the camp, it just shows to me the impact that I had as a D1 player, to come back and share my experience and knowledge."

With help from USA Volleyball, the USA Volleyball Diversity Committee, Molten USA and former Haskell Indian Nations University recruiter Judith Gipp, Nana gathered high school and junior high volleyball players from near and far to give them support, encouragement and information.

Allison-Brewer said the camp initially started to give young athletes a place to turn when looking into playing volleyball at the collegiate level, and to help Haskell recruit high school players.

But focus of the camp changed.

"We (organizers) just all came together and founded it," Allison-Brewer said. "It was a way for her (Gipp) to recruit for Haskell.

"For me, I wanted to give back all the knowledge I was able to receive to the Native youth," she said. "Also to get into coaching. To teach these kids what are the standards to play at the collegiate level, how do you get in, learn about the recruiting process."

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The first year all the staff were Division I college coaches. The second year the Division I coaches stayed for the first half of the camp and assistant coaches took over the second half. Now, in the third year, all the coaches are Native American female coaches.

And, it's a positive change for Nana.

Allison-Brewer said having the camp attendees see the Native American coaches, who have accomplished much on the collegiate level, inspires them even more.

"From the beginning it was to give lots of great instruction...to understand how we as Native Americans fit into volleyball," she said. "It has progressed to now we, I want more of our Native American coaches to lead on."

And so they are, starting with Nana.

Nana, graduated from Farmington High School in 1995. She attended and played on the University of New Mexico's women's volleyball team from 1995-1999.

She graduated in 2000 with a degree in statistics.

Allison-Brewer began coaching after she graduated at area schools including Kirtland Central and Chinle High School, before she attended the University of Arizona to obtain a master's degree in higher education.

She was also an assistant volleyball coach and recruiting coordinator at Dartmouth College for two years before she took the job as head volleyball coach at South Dakota State University in May 2008.

These are only a few of her many accomplishments.

Rhonda Tree Mangan, a fellow coach at the camp and longtime friend, said out of the many accomplishments Allison-Brewer has obtained, she's sure the camp is by far one of the biggest.

"We've been friends since high school and she's just always had this idea," Mangan said.

After graduating from Farmington High School in 1994, Mangan, Navajo, received a full-ride volleyball scholarship to play at Seward Community College in Liberal, Kan. Then, she attended Hastings University in Nebraska.

Mangan has helped as a coach with the camp for the last two years. She said her involvement is for the simple fact that no such camp existed when she was young.

"When we were growing up we didn't have all of this," she said. "I didn't know how to get from point A to point B. Just being able to teach these Native American kids what to do, I'm just trying to help educate them. It's not just all about skills, it's about life, it's about being aggressive, going toward what you want."

For Mangan, volleyball was something she grew to love.

"Basketball was my sport," she said. "The coach told us you need to play another sport to keep in shape. I always wanted that scholarship in basketball, it (volleyball) wasn't that big to me until I was offered that scholarship in volleyball.

"I just love it, it's keeping me healthy and stuff," she said.

But another coach at the camp, Jaymie Swift, San Carlos Apache, has a different story.

Volleyball is in her blood and teaching is a joy to her, especially when it's teaching something she loves.

"I just feel that it's (the camp) important, even though I'm not Navajo, I just feel I can be a mentor, a role model for these girls," Swift said. "I get to share my experience and my knowledge, share with these other young girls, I enjoy doing it.

"I guess I just love being able to teach, coaching is just like teaching...I love the feel of the game and finding that other kids are enjoying it," she said.

It is also Swift's second year coaching at the camp. She is the graduate assistant to Allison-Brewer at SDSU and a graduate of the University of El Paso and Yavapai College where she played volleyball.

Swift said she would like to become a head volleyball coach someday and maybe even return to San Carlos to coach high school volleyball.

San Carlos is where is she started, and it's where she hopes to help others, just like her, get their start.

"I'm just like them, I grew up on the reservation," she said. "My mom used to coach junior high and high school. I would go and hang out at her volleyball practice. I would pick up a ball and mimic girls there.

"Later I realized I was really good at it," she said. "It gave me something to do in the summer, I enjoy the teamwork of it all, it was a different movement than basketball and running - it was explosive."

Haskell's head volleyball coach Melissa Peterson was also invited to the camp but was unable to attend.

Volleyball campers like Krystal Platero and Kelly Zuni attended the camp.

Platero will be a senior at Window Rock High School this fall. She has played on the varsity volleyball team since she was a freshman and attended the camp for the first time last year.

With the encouragement of Allison-Brewer, Platero attended the camp again this summer.

"I guess I learned a lot last year and it helped me improve," Platero said. "Coach Nana, she pushed me, she pushed me, she wanted me to come back so I did. We played a lot, it was a faster pace."

Platero said Nana has helped her with her mental game the most, as she once struggled to keep her head in the game when she made mistakes. She said the two keep in touch frequently through e-mail and phone calls.

Platero said she hopes to one-day play volleyball at a Division 1 community college in Arizona, but for now, she'll take all that she can learn.

"Leadership and just dealing with everyday life you'd say," Platero said. "Just pushing yourself, if you keep struggling, keep trying."

For first-time camper Kelly Zuni, the camp succeeded in conditioning and coaching.

Zuni said the style of the camp was very "collegiate" and tough, but that's what she liked about it.

"I thought it was one of the best camps," she said. "It really gets to you, the first day I felt like I was really sore. I really hoped to get better on my defense and probably learn more offensive positions."

Zuni will be a senior at Wingate High School this fall but calls Crownpoint home. She heard about the camp through a friend at her school and after attending the camp, she got more than she thought she would.

"Meeting new people you learn about other people's positions, you have fun out there," she said. "It was also communication and leadership. At the beginning of camp we were all quiet, we became all friends and all of a sudden we weren't strangers anymore."

And even as a first-time NAVA camper, Zuni said she found that Allison-Brewer was very convincing in giving young Native athletes hopes for a future in volleyball.

"I'm not as high up as I want to be but she makes it seem like there's a lot of opportunities for Native Americans," Zuni said. "She uses herself as an example.

"They (camp coaches) make me want to be a better player, to succeed more in life," she said.

Which is exactly what Nana and the rest of the coaches want the campers to see. Swift said as long as she's known Allison-Brewer her dream was to help make other's dreams come true.

"She enjoys it so much to be around them, to enjoy them as much as she can," Swift said. "She was a big dreamer, she tells everyone you can obtain your dream, go as high as possible."

Because that's how it all starts - with a dream.

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