More Than Volleyball: Coaching on Navajo Nation | Coach Kristen - Ep. 6

In this episode of the Coach Chijo Podcast, Coach Chijo sits down with Coach Kristen, Director of Tuba City Volleyball, Head Coach at Tuba City High School, physical therapist, wife, mother, and community leader on Navajo Nation.

Coach Kristen shares her journey from helping Tuba City High School win its first-ever Arizona state championship in 2012 to now leading the next generation of athletes in her community. The conversation explores the realities of growing up and playing sports on the reservation, the challenges of limited resources and long travel distances, and why athletics can be life-changing for young people.

They also discuss coaching philosophy, mentorship, communication, building confidence, and how great coaches help athletes succeed both on and off the court.

This is a powerful conversation about leadership, resilience, service, and the impact one coach can have on a community.

Topics Discussed

• Growing up on Navajo Nation
 • Winning Tuba City's first state championship in 2012
 • The evolution of club volleyball in northern Arizona
 • Long travel distances for practices and competitions
 • Why sports are so important in reservation communities
 • Finding confidence and learning to communicate
 • The coaches who helped shape Coach Kristen's life
 • Building a volleyball program from the ground up
 • Coaching beyond wins and losses
 • Teaching life skills through sports
 • The need for more facilities and opportunities for athletes
 • Giving back to the community that raised you

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Coach Chijo Podcast. Real conversations about volleyball, coaching, growth, and the journey behind it all. So let's get into it. Just go. Welcome to the podcast. Hey everyone.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Hello.

SPEAKER_04 0:16

We are on Navajo Nation, and we're here today with our special guest, Coach Kristen.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Hello. Hi.

SPEAKER_04 0:24

You are a director of Tuba City Volleyball. Yes. You want to do a shout-out to your club?

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Yes. Hi guys.

SPEAKER_04 0:31

Okay, and then you are also head coach at Tuba City High School.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

School, yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 0:36

You want to do a shout out to them?

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Yes, hi guys.

SPEAKER_04 0:39

And then how many kids do you have?

SPEAKER_00 0:41

I have three. Their ages are two, almost three, um, eleven and fourteen. Okay. So we're crazy busy.

SPEAKER_04 0:49

So does your day have like 28 hours in the day?

SPEAKER_00 0:54

That's what it feels like it should have. But no, no, we make it work and we have a lot of family support and help.

SPEAKER_04 1:00

What gets you up in the morning?

SPEAKER_00 1:02

It's just that drive to like want to do a lot and help. Because I told you earlier that I'm also a physical therapist. And so that job, too, it's a lot of giving, giving, giving. I think that's just what I like to do. It's being there for my kids, I think, is the number one thing. And for the kids in the community too. I say sometimes I say my kids, and I mean like my daughters, but then sometimes I also say like my kids, as in my co like kids that I coach. Oh. Because I'm just around them so much.

SPEAKER_04 1:31

The fact that you call not your own kids, but your players your kids, that's a whole different level of caring and kind of the feel that I get from you as a coach.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Yeah, I think that goes just with being a mom, too. Like you just grow this relationship with the players that you coach. Yeah, you spend like pretty much every week with them and they become your kids.

SPEAKER_04 1:56

That's a great attitude to have as a coach.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

I tell people all the time, I'm like, as busy as I am, and sometimes it's really tiring and really stressful. I don't know what else I'd be doing. I just I love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

I really thank you for driving. You know, you drove a whole hour to come meet me here in Quinta, Arizona, is to find out more about what is volleyball like here. Because you were born and raised here.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Yeah, I was born and raised um on the reservation and grew up in Tuba City for pretty much all my life.

SPEAKER_04 2:27

So then you played volleyball here. You played at Tuba City High School, and I heard a little something about the year 2012?

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 2:40

What happened in 2012?

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Uh my team won state, yeah. 3A Division State Championship. So that was exciting, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:48

And wasn't that the first one for the school?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Yeah, that's the first one for Tuba High. And it's the only one since, so we're trying to get back there again. But yes, that that was my senior year.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

So let's talk a little bit about growing up because you know, I I'm still trying to learn, and I'm here uh by the way in Quinta to run some volleyball clinics.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:11

I get the feeling that maybe a few things are a little bit different.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

A lot different.

SPEAKER_04 3:17

So when you were growing up, well, when did you first play volleyball?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

So I started in fifth grade, which now, like thinking forward now, that seems really late to start in fifth grade. Um, but that's when I started and and then eventually got into club and then just continued from then and continue to play into high school and things like that. But yeah, I think it's a lot different because when you're in like a a big metropolitan city area, there's so many things to do, obviously. But here it's really rural, there's not restaurants and big, you know, places here. I mean, there's a couple things to do, and I don't know, fifth grade found volleyball and just picked it up and loved it.

SPEAKER_04 4:02

Yeah, I I was driving around. Um, there's no gigantic shopping mall.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Nope. Not you won't find one. You won't find one. You'll just find a lot of dirt and more dirt and dirt. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:14

I mean, what does that mean? I heard sports are really big here.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

It is.

SPEAKER_04 4:19

Like athletics, right? Yes. For for the kids.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Yes. It's really huge. Basketball's huge, cross country's huge, but volleyball, I wouldn't say it's huge, but it's becoming that way. It's it's kind of our whole life, I would say. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:35

Okay. Because there's no gigantic shopping mall.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Because there's nothing really else to do. Um, there's another thing too. Rodeo is a really big thing. Again, just things outdoors, things in the gym, but no huge shopping mall that you could spend a whole day at.

SPEAKER_04 4:51

You don't have any big giant water parks with slides and amusement parks. No, nothing like that. You're not gonna find anything like that here. You're gonna find other special things though, yeah, that I've already discovered in my few days here. All right, so playing volleyball. Did you first start in fifth grade with club volleyball?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

I started with the school and then eventually found um our local club, start our Starlings Club, into a city.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

So fast forward a little bit to when now you're director and coach club, and I'm guessing you've traveled to different places for tournaments where you are playing teams that are not from the res, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:35

Do you see any differences of when you started in fifth grade at all? Or is volleyball just volleyball anywhere?

SPEAKER_00 5:43

I feel like it has definitely evolved from when I started playing. I was talking to one of my coaches and best friends that I used to play with. Um, her name is Camille, and we recently went to Las Vegas for the Red Rock Rave National Qualifier. We took um a couple of teams out there, but our teams we were coaching the 15, and we just couldn't believe, like at the 15-year-old level, like how good players are.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

So, what are some examples of things that when you were in Vegas or Red Rock Rave and you were thinking about things that wow, we didn't do this when I was in high school. Like, what are those some of those things?

SPEAKER_00 6:21

So, like, even just being there at Red Rock Rave, like when I was growing up, we never played in like big national qualifier tournaments. It was all just like, okay, this Arizona region tournament, um, which was good, you know, it exposed us to playing in Phoenix. But like, I think the biggest tournament we did was like the Sterlings Nationals, um, even being out at a national qualifier, playing teams from California, Hawaii, like all these big cities, and you see that, and you kind of get intimidated by it because there's girls from all over the place, and then you see this huge facility with like 120 courts or something like that. Even that was like, Oh my gosh, like these this is crazy.

SPEAKER_04 7:00

Why did you not travel like that when you were playing?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

I'm not sure why. I think I think part of it is just it could be just the resources. I mean, here res life, it's so difficult sometimes, so hard. Things are just not as accessible. I mean, even things like getting a gym, a gym that they can play in and practice in, it sometimes can be a challenge. So um, but when I actually, when I was in I think at ninth or tenth grade, I went to club in Flaxstaff. They were going to different qualifiers, and I think that's what drew me that way is I just wanted to have um another, you know, more exposure and play at different tournaments. So we ended up going to like qualifiers in Minnesota and things like that.

SPEAKER_04 7:46

Okay, so you mentioned Flagstaff. How long was the drive from home in Tuba City, right? Mm-hmm to Flagstaff.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Um, it took about an hour and about 20 minutes to get to the gym that we practiced at from home.

SPEAKER_04 7:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:00

So you would do almost three hours of driving round trip just to go to practice.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

Just to go to practice, yeah. I always remember my parents being exhausted because that was also during basketball season, and I was a basketball athlete. So I was playing basketball and then I would go to club practice an hour and a half away, and then I would come home and then do my homework. Like it was just it was a crazy lifestyle, but I felt like that was just normal to us. That was just what we had to do to get better and to elevate our game and to do what we needed to do. So it was hard, but I loved it. And I just it helped me a lot though to grow in the game and to meet new people, to get coached by our coaches at the time were the Northern Arizona University assistant coaches. So I really wanted to be coached by them, and I I really just wanted that, you know, next level of play. And if I wanted to get there, I had to drive an hour and a half to get to practice and get back home.

SPEAKER_04 8:57

I keep hearing that a lot.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:59

Long drives to get to practice.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:01

That's normal.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

It's normal to a point. So right now at the high school, there's girls on my team, like maybe 30% of the girls don't live in Tuba City. They drive an hour to 30 minutes to get to Tuba City to be at school and to practice.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Yeah. So then when we go to tr uh to games, our our games like okay, Canta, for example, we come here for our game, which probably starts at 6 p.m. Probably if it's a five-set match, it'll end at like 8 30 or 8 o'clock. We gotta feed all the girls, we have to get back to Tuba City, and then those kids that live out of town then have to drive another hour to get back home. So they'll get home at like 12, 1 a.m. Yeah, and then they have to get up early again to come back to school an hour away. It's really intense, it's really difficult.

SPEAKER_04 9:54

The going through what you went through and all the kids and athletes go through here with all the driving and you know, maybe not having as much resources, you're tough.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Yeah, I do feel like it makes our I think it just makes us as people just super resilient and like you just tenacious. You just have to do it to be good at you know what you want to do and to to do anything. And I think that's one thing too that's really unique is like if you ever hear of like a res team playing somewhere, or you know of like like let's say for example from Monument Valley High School, if they're playing, like we'll all go watch them as a Navajo Nation, like we'll all go support and we'll all go watch, and it's really exciting to see like the res come together and support each other and different things like that.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

Wow, yeah. So people will drive hours even if it's not their school.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Yeah, even if it's not their school, they'll come if a native is playing and you remember hearing their name and seeing them in the newspaper, they'll they'll go watch.

SPEAKER_04 10:59

Wow. Yeah, that's tight knit.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah, it really is. That's community, that's beyond community, that's family. It is, yeah, it's really exciting, it's fun. I there's nothing like it, honestly. So when you have these opportunities to coach and to be in these gyms and to work with these athletes, like it means more than just like, oh, I'm a coach. You know, it means a lot to help develop them and help work with them. Because then, yeah, when they get these opportunities to play at the next level, or even if they don't, like you get to just support them in whatever they want to do.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

So what's the hardest part about coaching for you here?

SPEAKER_00 11:38

I think it's for me. I mean, obviously, I'm just so busy. I feel like one thing is one thing that's really difficult is just getting people to coach. Because again, we're not like this huge metropolitan city where we, you know, there's a coach from here and oh, so-and-so wants it's like very few coaches on the res, you know, that will give up their time, give up their energy, give up their everything, and just invest time in the kids. Like I said, I I'm a PT during the day, and then I'm also a mom, I'm also a wife, so I'm doing all these things and then getting up to coach and work with these kids, find the time. I think that's the hardest time or the hardest thing. But as a director, you know, I've actually had good um coaches come up and help us during our club. I really couldn't do it without them. This year was our biggest year. We had five teams through our club this year, and I was able to get two coaches per team this year. You know, we weren't as lucky the year before, and it was really hard to coach and direct and coach and going back and forth. It's it's a lot. And see, people ask me, like, how do you do that? And I'm like, I think I've just been doing this my whole life, like just scurrying around playing basketball, playing volleyball, doing this, doing that, between school, like you just get used to that like busy lifestyle, and I'm doing it now still, and it's it's just what we have to do to get these kids playing.

SPEAKER_04 13:11

So okay, but you don't have to do it.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_04 13:16

But you still do it.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

I still do it, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:19

So where does that come from?

SPEAKER_00 13:21

I was thinking about this one time. Why do we do this? And I really just feel like it's just who we as a community are. Like we just we just want to give I just want to give back to the community that helped me. Because I always say that too, like somebody coached me. Like there were coaches that coached me growing up. I I can still like name all of my coaches that were there for me, spoke life into me, pushed me, um, helped me, mentored me. Even now, like I have my coach, my one coach who went from high school, his name is Coach Harlan Barlow. He is now in Phoenix because he ended up moving away. He was the coach before I was there. He was there for a really long time in Tuba City. And he just spoke and pushed me so much that I feel like that is somebody who I want to be like, right? I want to help people the way he helped me, and I just feel like this is my way of giving back to our community through volleyball, through sports.

SPEAKER_04 14:19

How did he help you? I mean, we all talk about how, yeah, my coaches helped me, this coach helped me. How exactly did he help you?

SPEAKER_00 14:28

I think for me, it's just like making me realize the potential that I have. Because as a young athlete, I mean, you know, like it's a game, right? Volleyball's a game, and at the end of the day, it's you're playing and you're trying to improve on your game. But I don't ever really remember like where it was where I was like, okay, I'm gonna play college, what what what part of my life I made that decision. But I think part of it is hearing these coaches tell me, like, Kristen, you have this potential, you have the potential to do something outside of the res, right? Go experience the world and do that through something like volleyball. And for a lot of the kids, it's their sport, it could be basketball, it could be volleyball, um, it could be rodeo. We have um people here who are really good at you know, roping, bull riding, all these different sports, and that's one of our kind of ways to get out and like go experience the world. And um, Coach Barlow was just really good at like telling me, like, Kristen, you have the potential to do this, you have the potential to go to the next level. Um, and sometimes you like you don't really believe them, right? You're just kind of like, okay, you know, yeah, maybe I do, but no, and then you just have these coaches that like work with you every day and they motivate you, they uplift you, they correct you, they discipline you when you need it. And he was very good at like telling me, you know, you you're you can do more, you can do better. And he one thing I always remember him saying was like, Don't listen to the no's. Like, you're gonna have people tell you no so many times, over and over and over again. Go look for the yes. Go look for someone who's gonna give you that opportunity, give you that shot. Then eventually I found a relationship with my college coach, and she was the same way. She was really tough though. She was like, I don't know, sometimes I feel like women coaches are sometimes more tough because they're just like, she was hardcore. My my um junior college coach, her name is Lisa Stuck. She was really hard on me too. She was tough, but she was awesome, and she put put pulled another level out of me, I feel like in the volleyball world. She really did.

SPEAKER_04 16:34

Okay, what's the example of tough?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

I think for me, it's just like making me faster, making the game faster, and I wasn't used to that. I was like, what is these and I was so exhausted by the end of practice. That not just physically, but also like um mentally, making me talk. I think that's a big thing in the way that we communicate here um on the res. I think it's so easy to be really like closed off and reserved and quiet. I think those are really common words sometimes when you when you see us and you talk to our kids. We're really quiet. But no coach Lisa would tell me all the time, Kristen, you need to talk. You need to talk more, you need to be loud on the court, you need to let people know that you're there and you that you know you're communicating with them. And sometimes I wouldn't, and she would be like, Kristen, you need to talk. Like she would push me to that level, like make me understand that I have to be loud. If I want to be, you know, successful, I want to be playing at that next level, I have to communicate, which was totally not natural for me. I was really shy and timid, especially around these girls that I didn't really know, and in a place I didn't really know. Um, it was really difficult, but she was right. Once I started like talking and everything around me got a lot easier um to communicate with my teammates. So that was one of the big things I know that she helped me with was finding my voice.

SPEAKER_04 18:03

Okay, so when you were being told by your coach, you have to talk, you have to talk, you have to talk, and then you try a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:11

Was it comfortable or uncomfortable?

SPEAKER_00 18:14

It's not comfortable in the beginning. It's like I almost felt like I was being too I almost felt obnoxious because I'm trying to be loud. And um, it was really uncomfortable in the beginning. So, but again, as I started to work with these new, you know, these new teammates of mine, I realized like that's just part of the game. Like that's just the game. And I just have to either I could be quiet off the court all I want, but as soon as I get on the court, I have to be, I have to be loud, I have to be able to communicate for my team so that we can be successful. I'm a competitor. Like I really just wanted our team to do well. Yeah, and so I was like, I'll do whatever takes.

SPEAKER_04 18:54

I feel like there are a lot of players who get into these situations and coaches want them to do this or that, and it's not something they're used to doing, so they're uncomfortable, like you said.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:06

How do you get past how did you get past that uncomfortable phase?

SPEAKER_00 19:10

I think for me, it's just trusting my coach, you know, trusting Lisa at the time was a really firm coach. Like she was like, Okay, I want my you know, this was her program, this is how she wanted it. And again, you go from being at a high school where people know who you are, and almost in a sense, like you know, your whole community knows who you are. You're the starting outside hitter. I played outside when I was in high school. Nice, I played outside. I did, and then you go to like Glendale, and now we're starting from the bottom, we're starting from ground zero, you're a freshman coming into a program that you know nothing about, but yeah, I want to make a starting spot and I want our team to be successful. Yeah, and you really just have to like go in and trust your coach and trust that you know she knows what's right for the team and just be adaptable and work and grow, even though I wasn't so sure about sometimes myself where I'm like, Am I even able to play at this level? I mean, I don't even know what hitting percentage is, or I don't even know what this kind of play is, and the game's so much faster than I even imagined it could be. So you go into these things and you kind of doubt yourself, but then you yeah, again, you just trust, right? You trust your teammates, you trust your coach, and you just try to do what she's asking you to do.

SPEAKER_04 20:27

But that's hard too to trust other people. It is trust a coach, trust teammates. Yeah. Now, what made it so that you could trust your college coach? Was there something about her, or did you just decide, okay, it doesn't matter who it is, there's my coach. Yeah, I'm just gonna trust my coach.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Um, I remember when I did my site, my visit with her before I even committed to playing for her. One of the things that I really liked that she told me was Kristen, like, you know, the the playing field is all level right now. She's like, Yeah, I have sophomores that are coming back and they're gonna be, you know, returners. But you know what? If you work hard and you, you know, show me that you're ready to work and you're ready to put your time and effort into being here, you could be on that starting lineup. And she also was just like, This you this is the place for you. Like, I'm here, I'm gonna invest in you, I'm gonna work with you. I want you to play for me. And she did tell me, I love recruiting from the res. She created that relationship with me. I love recruiting from the res. And I remember being like, Why? Like, why do you like doing that? She's like, Because you guys have some of the toughest players, you guys have some of the most um resilient working, you know, they work hard. You guys are you guys are tough out there, and that for me, I'm like, I felt I felt seen, right? I felt like somebody resonated with who I am and my reservation. And she's like, I and she did, she recruited, she Had recruited someone actually here from Monument Valley. So she was on the team for Lisa, and I really felt like Lisa was someone who just understood us as players and some you know players that came for the reservation. So that for me was really great because I felt like she understood me and wanted the best for me, right?

SPEAKER_04 22:23

Right, right. Okay. So there could be players watching this podcast or listening to this podcast with their parents. They want to get to another level. And then they listen to their coaches and and hear the coach saying things like do this, do that, and immediately they're thinking, but I'm not like that.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:44

So is it the coach's job to make sure and and figure out how do I get each player to trust me? Is that a coach's job?

SPEAKER_00 22:53

Part of it maybe, but it's it's really hard because again, I coach club, I coach high school. I have all these different players that I, you know, have to look after. I have to invest in each one of them maybe a little differently, and that gets to be a lot. It's really hard sometimes to bring all these different players. I feel like as a player, I had to be able to just adapt to what my coach was telling me to do. You see, I I think for me, I'm I think naturally I'm I am a trusting person, but I can, you know, I'm intellectual, I can tell, you know, when somebody means well for me and maybe when someone doesn't. And as a player, all the coaches that I've had, I mean, I know they wanted the best for me. And as a coach, I want to be able to, yes, be there for my team, but I know there's players out there too that just need that little little extra. Like I have to, I have to, I have to weasel my way in there and get to them to see like this is the program, this is why we run it this way, this is why I ran my program this way. And my hope is that just by them understanding that I care about them as a player, yeah, they'll be able to trust me and trust the program. Okay, which isn't always easy, but it's it it's part of what we have to do, I think, as coaches, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:16

Yeah, it's the coach's job.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:18

So the coach just can't blindly run drills, yeah, just anyway because the coach thinks that's just the way it is, yeah, and expect their players to just buy in. Yeah. That that doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

It doesn't, no, and I feel like a lot of times too, when I'm running a drill, if I feel that, because as coaches too, you have to kind of like you have to read what's happening in the room. Sometimes I feel like kids are like, what is this drill? Like, why are we even doing this? And you have to you have to be like, okay, this is why we're doing this. And then once you explain it to them, they're like, Oh, yeah, these situations do happen in a game, or yeah, this does happen often. Maybe I do need to fix this. And once you get them to see that, yeah, it it changes a lot. I think as a physical therapist too, my eye is just like I really can see like small things that maybe you know the player doesn't notice. And once you just kind of say, Hey, you changed one thing, then it'll, you know, this will get better, and and they see that and they they see, oh yeah, that little, I don't know, turn in my hand, or that foot that I'm supposed to put here or there, and they see that difference, it's like, oh, it's a light bulb. It's like, oh yeah, the light bulb moment, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:36

Light bulb moment. Okay, so if you see things like, can you tell that I've had three back surgeries? Probably. When I get up after we're sitting here for a while, yeah, it's gonna take a little bit for me to straighten up.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

Yeah, yeah, it's funny, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:53

Yeah. So they're gonna be coaches watching this, they're gonna be coaches listening to this.

SPEAKER_02 25:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:59

And I think some are gonna go, oh, I don't care what they're talking about. Yeah, that's a bunch of bull.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Yeah, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:07

I mean, we uh everybody thinks differently, and I don't expect everybody to be nodding and going, yeah, wow, this is great with this podcast, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:17

Um, others, maybe they're thinking a little bit differently by this time, listening to us. I like the part that you talk about giving back, okay?

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:28

And giving you were fortunate to have coaches who you thought and felt deep inside. Yes, I can trust this coach. I'm gonna go to the next level, I'm gonna push myself, I'm gonna be uncomfortable and push myself through that, right? Because that's what it takes for the team. All right, so is that what you're teaching right now?

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Uh for me, I think when I go into my gym, I try to relate everything that I do, even if it's volleyball based, I try to teach the kids like this k goes beyond volleyball. They they are at a really crucial time in their life where they're receiving, they're learning, they're growing, they're gonna be young adults here soon. And as much as, you know, our life is about volleyball right now, I really want them to understand like these things that we're teaching you, the f you know, the being flexible, being adaptable, being hardworking, um, being resilient, coming to practice, being on time, time management, like all these different things, like it's going to help them and you know, help them in the future. It's going to, it's gonna relate to something in their life, whether it's becoming a parent, becoming a you know, a young business owner, or being in healthcare, or doing whatever it is that they want to be able to do. I really do try to circle it back to that. And again, all of my athletes are, you know, Native American. So I truly I do really try to teach them, you know, I do tell them like you're gonna go off the reservation at some point. And I sometimes use my experiences, but I tell them, you know, it's going to be hard. You're gonna have to learn how to be in a place where you're not really comfortable and you have to adapt and you have to grow. It might not feel comfortable all the time, and that's okay. But just trying your best to, you know, to to relate it to another thing in their life. So it's it's hard. I feel like I take on a lot as a coach to teach teach them that, but I really I really do really do hope that they they're learning all of that and intaking that when they're you know at practice.

SPEAKER_04 28:43

So you're sharing your experiences, your practices and the way that you run your programs. I can tell already there's structure to it.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_04 28:52

They can't just show up whenever they want.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

No, it's not, that doesn't fly. That doesn't fly. That doesn't fly. Okay. No, yep, that doesn't fly. Yeah, yeah. Yep, yep, there's like there's expectations for sure. And I and as you know, as I'm building my high school, because this is my second year, it's in a building phase. Um, not gonna lie. Last year it it was not rough. I mean, we had a successful season, but I mean we are in the building stages, building a program, it's not easy, and so um, yeah, but there are expectations for the kids and just understanding like you guys have to be at practice at this time and you're expected to act this way, and you're representing not only your school, you're representing the Navajo Nation, like there's these expectations on them as as my players.

SPEAKER_04 29:41

So wow, so you're not just focusing on the technique stuff. No, and then just go home.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

No, but yeah, that at the end of the day, I feel like just because of where we are, how we've grown up, there has to be another level of teaching them, teaching them about life, teaching them about you know finances, teaching them about making good decisions, teaching them about what it takes to be successful.

SPEAKER_04 30:07

You keep using the word teaching them something, teaching them this, teaching them that. So is coaching teaching?

SPEAKER_00 30:16

I feel like it is. It really is. It's it's teaching them another yeah, I really do feel like it it's it's that.

SPEAKER_04 30:24

You're a teacher.

SPEAKER_00 30:25

You are. You're a lot of things when you're a coach.

SPEAKER_04 30:28

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:30

So I don't know if I'm just wondering out there with all the coaches that are out there in the world. I'm wondering, do they all do this?

SPEAKER_00 30:40

I don't know. So that's one thing that I've always thought about is when I go home at the end of the day, sometimes I go home and I'm like, was the goal met for the day? And I'm like, you know what? I put everything I could into what I did today. And that to me is enough. And I don't know how you know other coaches feel. I know there are everyone's different in how they approach practice or going to a tournament. So even like that, like when we went to Red Rock Rave, I don't know how other teams approached it, but when we were there, I was like, girls, like this is an opportunity for us. This is not just like, oh, we were at another qualifier, like this is a qualifier. Like, we gotta, you know, we gotta, we gotta take advantage of it, like enjoy it and work hard, and you know, we don't get opportunities like this all the time.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

It's a special opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_04 31:36

Don't take it for granted.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

Yeah. And I tell my kids, I'm like, you know, you have the opportunity to show the world, like, what it is to be Native American and what it is to represent and not just a town, but our community. It's crazy how sometimes that is an added pressure too, to represent not just your town, but because we are sometimes I was the first at stuff. Like I was the first in my PD program, I was the first Navajo student in my physical therapy program. Like sometimes that that is what it is, and you have that little added pressure on you to represent well and do a good job and not just you know lollygag or quit or you know, things like that. You have that little added pressure on you.

SPEAKER_04 32:18

So, what does that do for your players like when you go to the to a qualifier? Does that make them more nervous? Does it change how they play? Does it make them more proud? I'm wondering like what's going on in their minds. In their mind. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

So for me, like when I have those conversations with them, I feel like it really brings it home. Because sometimes I think they I mean they're kids, like they kind of lose in in their head, like, oh yeah, we are here to represent. Um, I think it makes them buckle down and like it gives them that pride. They know, yeah, I come from Tuba City and I need to be able to, you know, represent myself well and um my community, and I think it makes them more excited to play and and do well. Um, I don't think it makes them more nervous. I think they actually you they they hear that and they rise up and it it's a good challenge for them, I think.

SPEAKER_04 33:14

That must be a good feeling for you.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Yeah, it's so much fun. Yeah, and then when we play teams that are like from California, these bigger clubs, and my girls keep up with them, it's so exciting. Yeah, it's so much fun.

SPEAKER_04 33:26

I just got goosebumps.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Yeah, yeah. We played on like one of our first games out there. We played one of the Coast volleyball club teams. Okay. And that was so because I see the word coast, and internally I'm like, oh my gosh, we're gonna get killed, or maybe we're gonna, I don't know what's gonna happen. I'm just hoping for the best. Yeah, and we go into the first set with one of their teams, and we're winning at one point. And my girls, and again, I'm I don't go and tell them, hey, this is the coast team, they're like really awesome, and they're this huge club in California.

SPEAKER_04 33:54

And oh yeah, you never tell your players.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

You never tell them, no, and so and um they're just like out there and they know like dang these girls can play and they're good, and my girls are just out there really, you know, trying. Yeah, and we didn't end up winning that match, but just and I tell them afterwards, like, you girls, like you guys play against this really huge club in California, and they're like, Really? And I'm like, Yes, you did so well, like you guys can play at this level, and you guys can play at these national qualifiers. You just need to, you know, just need to have that confidence in yourself. So yeah, that was really fun to see them play, you know, those teams is exciting.

SPEAKER_04 34:35

It sounds like you're you really nurture their potential, just like you talked about with your college coach and your high school coach and and them seeing your potential. Another reason, well, the main reason, of course, why I'm here uh in Kienta, Arizona, is because I'm running clinics. Yeah, I'm running a bunch of volleyball clinics. I had one yesterday, that was the first one. Okay, okay, and I was told, be ready, they're gonna be kind of quiet.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 35:06

So I said, okay, well, I've had quiet kids.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:10

So I go in there and I just did my usual thing, and very quickly I realized, oh, there's there's something different. There's something different. Like I need to approach this differently.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:25

So I I've always planned my practices for my teams, they're all mapped out on what we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:32

Um, so I have an outline for my clinic, right? And I quickly went off script because I was told that they were gonna be quiet, but yeah, this was very quiet.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

It's like next level, right? Sometimes you're like, hello, like you're guys even listening to my life.

SPEAKER_04 35:49

Yeah, do they have a voice? At one point I remember saying out loud, and maybe I shouldn't have said this. I kind of regret saying it. So I apologize, but I said, Is this a library?

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:02

My wife's a librarian.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:04

So it's that good, like that's like a joke, right? Yeah. Library's like, she gotta be quiet. I really struggled. I really struggle. I did. Do you do you struggle with that? Even though you were born and raised here, and that's who you're coaching. And help me out because I have four more clinics coming up in the next couple days. And I'm wondering, I need some help.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:30

I need a tip.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Oh, trust me, when I first started our club, and these and these, um, it was in 2023. So it was like two to three years after COVID, you know, we were a little past that. But that's when the club, there was a club volleyball um Tuba City Starlings before that's when their club ended. So it was like that two to three year gap where we didn't have any club in Tuba.

SPEAKER_03 36:53

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

And then I bring my kid I bring, you know, I start my club, and the same thing probably, I was like stunned. I'm like, these kids don't talk. I'm like, hello. And are you?

SPEAKER_04 37:04

But but you were once that age.

SPEAKER_00 37:06

I was once that age in the same place. Yeah, yeah. And it's difficult because you're like, you're maybe so used to coaching girls that are really, you know, loud or they talk or they interact somehow, or you know, there's you know there, there's like a nod, they're like, okay, you're doing it. Um, and then you have our girls that are just like looking at you. For me, I just really have you just have to like keep, keep, keep trying, keep pushing them in a way where they understand, okay, I have to talk. So for me as a coach, I mean, for you, it's probably gonna be hard because you're just here for like four days and doing clinics, but like for me, I really had to have that conversation, guys. I need you to talk, like I need you guys to start talking. Like, it's it volleyball is more fun when you talk, and and I think they I and I don't know, um, you know, I obviously wasn't at the clinic with you, but I feel like just having that conversation, right? Hey, like we need to be more vocal. That's what I that's our goal today. Like, let's just do this. Or sometimes I'll even create a drill where there's an accountability person. Okay, you're the one who's gonna be the talker, okay? And you're gonna be the one that's the accountability. Is she talking? You hear her talking and there and you kind of put a job on one of them and then you move the job around. Everybody has to talk.

SPEAKER_04 38:24

So you have an accounta accountability system with your players.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

Sometimes within the drill, like if I if I find them being like quiet, if I feel like overall as a team we're just not talking, and then we try to you know incorporate ways for them to be more vocal. So where it's not where I'm like, you know, I you know, as coaches, we can sound like broker record talk, talk, talk.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

Right.

SPEAKER_00 38:47

So and to eliminate that, I try to incorporate it within the drill. Okay, you're the person that's gonna talk, and then maybe we spend like a minute of them being the person that talks the whole time, and then we switch it around and we move it around so that everybody starts to talk more. Okay, just pushing them out of their comfort zone that way.

SPEAKER_04 39:06

Wow, can you come to my clinic and just say that?

SPEAKER_00 39:08

I know right.

SPEAKER_04 39:10

Here I am, you know, practically an outsider, right? I mean, they've probably seen my videos or something, but still, like I'm there, you know. Yeah, I'm I get loud when I coach. Yeah, you know, because I that's how I get my kids to get excited. And the bulk of my coaching career for club has been 12s, 12 years.

SPEAKER_01 39:32

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04 39:32

So I'm used to the shyness, but like you just said, you have today, but then you have tomorrow to see them and then help them along, right? Yeah, but clinics, I mean, I'm doing a lot of clinics these days, and it's it's hard. It's exhausting. It is because I've never met them before. I know nothing about their personality, who's the talker, who's not, yeah, who's shy with just new people, or who's just shy always. It's hard, but it was so hard yesterday.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:11

And I I had a I give it a little talk at the very beginning. And this is for all clinics.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:16

And I talk, I I ask them a question. So if it's a hitting clinic, I say, Who wants to get better at hitting today? And they'll raise their hand.

SPEAKER_02 40:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:25

Okay, so if you want to get better at something, yeah, you're gonna have to change how you practice or change how you train or change something with your footwork or change something and do it differently. And when you do it differently, it's gonna be uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_02 40:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:43

Because you haven't done it that way before. So you have to be comfortable with that. So I try to explain all that because otherwise, if you stay comfortable and keep doing everything the same way you've always been doing it, you're just gonna keep playing the same way forever and never get better, right? I so I tried to explain that, and then and then I try talking is a big thing for me.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:06

For for me as a coach and developing that in players because, like you said, volleyball is more fun when it's active and vocal and talking. So much more fun. Exciting, right? So I tried to incorporate those into my drills, right? So I run this drill, it's called just go. And the kids that are in the drill, okay, they obviously have to talk to make the drill happen. But the ones that are surrounding the court, I tell them you are surrounding the court to make sure the balls get cleared off the court very quickly, and you're gonna be sprinting just as much as the ones that are in the drill. Yeah. Because this is a major hustle drill, it's called just go. Uh, and they're not moving. And I also said, well, they got to get 10 touches, and then we're gonna switch out, right? And so let's help them out. Yeah, they're doing their best running around hustling, trying to get the ball. Let's help them out by at least counting for them.

SPEAKER_02 42:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:06

So they know when they're done and how many you have.

SPEAKER_02 42:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:09

And still no talking.

SPEAKER_02 42:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:11

And I know I'm I've initiated like six, seven, eight balls, maybe nine, and it's supposed to end at ten. And so I I tried to be the not stern, but you know, the the I want to put discipline into training.

SPEAKER_02 42:25

Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_04 42:26

Here are the instructions. Yeah. You asked me to make you better. Here is an example of something you can do right now, choose to do it, right? Which is to talk.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:39

To try to get 1% better at something. Right?

SPEAKER_02 42:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:43

And it took about three, four, five demos and examples to finally get a few of them to start counting.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

I feel like that's pretty common.

SPEAKER_04 42:53

That's normal?

SPEAKER_00 42:54

That's pretty common, but not in a way where I would say it's acceptable. I would just say it's something that I notice too as a coach when I'm even like first day of anything, a camp or um first day of tryouts. For me, I I don't know if I'm just like a stern lady on the court, but I'm just like, guys, we gotta talk. Come on. Like, let's pick it up. Let's pick it up a notch. We need to, you know, we're too quiet and it's not fun. Like, let's make and I I will say that sometimes to my players, my club players.

SPEAKER_03 43:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:26

I'll bring them in, I'll reheddle them, and I'm like, you guys, I don't make volleyball fun. Like as a coach, is I know I'm a fun person, but I'm not, it's not my job to make this this drill or this practice fun today.

SPEAKER_03 43:43

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 43:44

It's only as fun as you guys make it as a team, as a club. Like, volleyball is so fun and it can be so boring. And right now, if we're not talking, it's it's not it's not as fun as it could be. So let's let's talk, let's pick it up a notch. And once I just kind of have that conversation. With them, like, let's have fun today. Like, let's not, let's, let's learn and let's grow. Let's talk and let's let's be active in how we're we're speaking to each other. Let's not you know, let's not do this drill five times before we start talking. Let's do it right now. Let's get that right. And they and I think that once you kind of they go, Oh yeah, you know, this is kind of boring, or you know, this is kind of lame. Like, we're not talking.

SPEAKER_04 44:21

Do they actually say that?

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Sometimes they do that. Like I he I see head nods like, yeah, this is boring. Okay. Because we're just not talking.

SPEAKER_04 44:28

There's one key point you made that I want to vocalize again for the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 44:35

Because I thought it was it was amazing. Um, you said it's only as fun as you as the team make it.

SPEAKER_00 44:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:44

So it's up to them.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

Yeah, it's up to them.

SPEAKER_04 44:47

So if it's boring, it's like, well, you made it boring.

SPEAKER_00 44:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:50

Is that what that means?

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Yeah, for me, that's what I tell my girls in the gym. Like, I volleyball can be as fun as you make it. We could be doing the most boring drill.

SPEAKER_01 44:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:00

But if we talk and we hustle and we encourage each other, and we're like the most probably one of the most basic drills, butterfly, right?

SPEAKER_03 45:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:07

We could have so much fun doing it.

SPEAKER_03 45:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:09

But it's up to you guys as the players. And I'm here manning the drill, I'm here supervising and coaching you through it.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 45:16

But at the end of the day, it's it's how do we want to go through this practice? Do we want to have fun or do we just want to be going through the motion kind of thing? And um, I'm like, it's your choice. Like, I'm here either way, but it's your choice. And a lot of them, okay, yeah, let's have fun. And just that little like switch, and there's then it's a totally different practice. And then after they change, you know, make that change with their talking, we'll come in for water, and I'm like, wasn't that better? Wasn't that great? And all of them are like, Yeah, that was so much fun. And then it just changes like our trajectory of practice and it makes it makes it better. So they see like, oh, I just have to talk, and then everything's better. Yeah, like it's so much more enjoyable when we're talking, we're supporting each other, when we're calling the ball, and we're talking and saying a name and things like that. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:05

But what you just said is very key. And I don't know if every coach on the planet Earth would do this. You said, like, after the water break, you'd said, now wasn't that better to make them recognize and make them think and go, oh yeah, it was better. So now they recognize it.

SPEAKER_00 46:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:24

I don't know if every coach would do that.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

Yeah, I really try to circle back and really make them, yeah, like you said, recognize that that little it was just talking. It wasn't anything astronomical. We didn't do anything. It's a quick fix, and all I have to do is talk, and it volleyball feels so much better, and it looks so much better, and it sounds so much better, and it's just that's the easiest. I always tell my kids, like, that's the that's the quick fix right there. I'm like, it could take three, two to three years to fix your hitting form, or it could take five months, we don't know. But if you just talk, that's one thing that can make your game so much better. Um, yeah, and then just circling back around and letting them know, like, didn't that feel better? And they go, Oh, yeah, it did feel better.

SPEAKER_04 47:07

That's the part right there.

SPEAKER_00 47:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:09

That needs to be done.

SPEAKER_00 47:11

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:12

I'm guessing there's probably coaches even watching this go like, you gotta talk, you gotta talk, you gotta talk. Yeah. And then, you know, maybe they talk, but you forget the part to remind them that they were successful at it.

SPEAKER_00 47:25

Yeah, yeah. Giving them that good feedback. Once they come back, I'm like, I love that version of you guys. I love when you guys are talking. It makes me happy as a coach. And I give them that, you know, that feedback that they like to hear. Because no one wants to hear, oh, I'm doing horrible. They like it when they get that, oh yeah, I am doing good. You know, so I tell them, like, yep, you guys look so much better, like 100% better. Just keep talking.

SPEAKER_04 47:47

Well, can I play for you?

SPEAKER_00 47:49

Right. Yeah, I love it. I've I've been around volleyball so much.

SPEAKER_04 47:54

I want to play for you.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

I tell my kids all the time, my kids, my volleyball girls, I tell them all the time, you guys have potential. Like there's the potential is there. It's what you make of it. It we could do it. We could we could win regionals, we could win championships, we have the right squad, we have the right crew, we have the right, we could do it. We just need to be, we just gotta commit to it and commit to the process.

SPEAKER_04 48:17

And that's what your coaches told you.

SPEAKER_00 48:20

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:21

And you're giving that back. That's this is literally giving back.

SPEAKER_00 48:24

Yeah, it's literally full circle. My coach, my high school coach, Harlan Barlow, he's he mentors me now. So like I'll call him up every day and we'll have conversations like how practice went, or like how um, how can I make this drill? And he helps me a lot, you know. It doesn't come from just me. Yeah, I feel like as a coach, we have mentors. I think that's really important too. Someone that you can just be real and raw with, because it's not perfect. Like, I go home sometimes, I'm like, oh, this was a disaster, or this tournament was just sweet, it's so horrible. Or some days I'll go home, I'm like, oh my god, it clicked today. Like, there's some very many variations in like how things went, but I always go back to my coach and I call him up and I say, I need help with this. And he was actually the person in that gave me that idea for an accountability person in the drill. You know, he gave me that idea, and so some of the in a lot of the drills he's given me and he's taught me, and then I add my own thing into it because again, as a PT, I understand what it you know how to help someone who maybe needs that guidance to from someone who's not confident who's injured, or and then teaching them like okay, look, you can do this, you can do that. Um, so that's what I do every day, and then to take it into coaching, I feel like it does help me as a to be a PT to be, you know, you know, see that side of people, encourage them, push them, help them, and then also on the court I'm doing the same thing, it's just a different situation.

SPEAKER_04 49:58

You know, we we talk or earlier I said again, you know, you're probably gonna get another championship. Yeah, like I can feel it. Yeah, championship is not everything, no, but I can tell you're gonna grow fast as a coach. Yeah, you're doing things and talking about things that I never even thought about when I first started coaching. You know, I mean you're actively seeking a mentor, you you you had experiences yourself, yeah. Very fortunately, that you can just use and give back, and you're doing it, and I know it's exhausting because it takes way more brain energy and calories and everything burning to do what you do. Yeah, because you could just roll the ball card out and say, hey, run the drill, right? Yeah, and they're not talking, and then you don't do anything about it. Yeah, but to do something about that, yeah, yeah. It's exhausting.

SPEAKER_00 50:57

It is, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:58

You know, like you said, this is why we get up, right?

SPEAKER_00 51:01

Yeah, it's why we get up.

SPEAKER_04 51:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:02

It's coaching.

SPEAKER_04 51:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

Trust me, the first thing in my mind is what do I need for practice?

SPEAKER_04 51:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:08

Oh, I need my I need this, I need that. Sometimes that's my first thought in the morning. Sports is life here. Like sports is a big thing.

SPEAKER_04 51:15

I can tell. I mean, you drive down the street, and you know, there's not a whole lot of like stuff happening that you see in big cities. But then, man, you walk into the gym, it's like, yeah, they put everything into it for the kids.

SPEAKER_00 51:28

They do. So that's what I tell my like my best friend lived down the street from me, and every day, I mean, we there's no skating rink, there's no, I mean, we didn't really have a great movie theater back when I was young, and like there wasn't really anything to do. So it's like, oh, let's go play outside, let's go play volleyball. And we just have this little makeshift court in my best friend's yard, and it's like this tiny little thing, but that's how we got our ball control down. We would just pass it and hit to each other all the time, and that's really where it like just came from. Like, just there's nothing else to do.

SPEAKER_04 52:02

But is that so is that part of the culture and the way that parents raise their kids here? I mean, it's it seems like they're there for them and they support them and and give them everything they can give them.

SPEAKER_00 52:16

Yeah, um, so like again, sports is a big thing. I mean, like today, like I just mentioned earlier, there's a basketball tournament. That thing's been that tournament's been going on for two days now, and it's non-stop basketball games. There's every division from I think third, fourth grade, fifth, sixth, all the way to high school, like and they're like families will be there all day. I mean, there's nothing else to do, so they're there all day watching basketball. Even kids that are not their kids, they're watching, they're watching all three courts, like, and that's the day, you're right. So that's that's just what they do and they they love it. I love it. I'm my daughters all play, so it's just how how it is. I don't know. So when I when I left to Phoenix, I'm like, I miss that. I miss being Oh, you missed it. I miss being with my with my community, just hanging out. If there's a basketball game, everyone's at the basketball game, there's a volleyball game, everyone's at the volleyball game, there's a football game, we're all there, and it just is so much fun. So, like high school sports is one of the best my one of the best times of my life. I I miss I miss it because it was just so much fun. It's a lot of pressure, but at the same time, it's it's it's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 53:27

So, are you saying you're in your like dream job world?

SPEAKER_00 53:31

I I love it. Yeah. I so when I went off to school and to physical therapy school, my whole goal was to come back home. They teach you from when you're like a little girl and growing up, you know, make sure you go get your education and then you come back home and you help your people and you take care of them. Um, so I came back and I, you know, stepped into world SPT. When I first started my job, I obviously it's a new job. I'm not gonna be like, okay, can I coach? It wasn't until this last year I felt, you know, like I got grew the courage. I was like asking my boss, can I please coach as well? I know it's gonna take oh you know, time away from my real job, but you know, I want to do both things and I love both things and I have passion for both things and I was able to, and it's just been so much fun. I and I know it feels like maybe to some people it's like oh that's work, it's so much work, and it is, but I just love it. It's so much fun.

SPEAKER_04 54:28

Well, keep it up because I can tell you're doing the right thing the right way. I think that's pretty obvious to anybody listening. They're gonna want to come play for you.

SPEAKER_00 54:38

Thank you. Yeah, I love it. No, I love it, and I like investing in all of our players. So with our club, again, we have five teams. We had a 10 U team.

SPEAKER_01 54:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:47

10 U. So cute, so much fun learning the basics. Um, 12U, 14U, 15U, 17U. So we have the whole spread there. Yeah, and it's just so awesome. Like, it's just so much fun. And I really try to tell my club coaches, like, let's be intentional. Like, let's not just open the gym up and just, you know, let the kids like like let's teach them something. Let's elevate their game, let's make them better athletes than when they first stepped in. I saw you, I saw you at um, it was one at AEG.

SPEAKER_04 55:23

Uh Fiesta Festival February?

SPEAKER_00 55:26

Yep. Yeah. My daughter played in that. Yeah. I think we did, I think we did take a picture with you. So that was fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone's like, oh my gosh, he's on TikTok. And they all ran over there and they took a picture, so that was really fun.

SPEAKER_04 55:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:40

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 55:40

Yeah, that's the that's the fun part of what I'm doing right now.

SPEAKER_01 55:44

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 55:45

Yeah. Um I just can't believe I I'm kind of in a dream world stage right now where work doesn't feel like work.

SPEAKER_00 55:55

Yeah, that's always the that that's a dream, right? Yeah. So like I see some uh people in Phoenix or like um some coaches, and they have like their own like gym and their club has their own gym. Fancy ones. Nice, yeah. And sometimes it's not even that big, it's just like a three-court facility. But even that, I'm just like, oh, that'd be so nice to have in Tuba City.

SPEAKER_04 56:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:17

Like that would be a dream.

SPEAKER_04 56:18

Could that ever happen here?

SPEAKER_00 56:19

I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 56:20

What would it take?

SPEAKER_00 56:22

A lot of I don't know. I I always say that would be my dream to just have a facility.

SPEAKER_03 56:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:29

And just because again, I told you that was the hard, that's the hard part is getting practice, you know, gym secured to play.

SPEAKER_04 56:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 56:37

Um, because again, there's not a lot to do in Tuba, just the gym.

SPEAKER_04 56:41

So let's take a timeout here. Coaches know what timeouts are. I'm gonna take a timeout here.

unknown 56:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:47

And uh just anybody listening, watching, can you think of a way to help out what's happening here? Because so this is what I'm understanding so far. You don't have the big shopping malls, kids can't go to like big water parks or amusement parks or anything like that. You gotta drive hours to get to school or practice.

SPEAKER_01 57:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 57:09

And sports brings so much to the lives of the kids, right? Yeah. That they will be able to use for the rest of their lives. Yet there aren't enough facilities to keep up with this big demand of the fact that sports is huge on the reservation.

SPEAKER_00 57:29

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_04 57:30

I didn't realize how huge sports it is.

SPEAKER_00 57:33

Is yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 57:35

So somebody listening, watching, I mean, contact me. Contact right, Coach Kristen.

SPEAKER_00 57:42

Yep, we need some solutions.

SPEAKER_04 57:44

At Tuba City High School.

SPEAKER_00 57:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 57:47

On the Navajo Nation. There needs to be something done.

SPEAKER_02 57:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 57:52

Because if they're not playing sports, who knows what else they could be doing.

SPEAKER_00 57:55

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 57:56

And we don't want to think about that.

SPEAKER_00 57:57

We don't want to, no.

SPEAKER_04 57:59

Right?

SPEAKER_00 57:59

No, no. I feel like for a lot of the kids, this is again for me, that was my way to the next level and to out of the reservation. Not that it's bad here, but just you know, a way to get off and get my education and then come back and then do this.

SPEAKER_04 58:15

Yeah, and now you're in the health field and and helping people.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 58:20

I mean, it was the sports.

SPEAKER_00 58:22

Mm-hmm. This is sports for sure.

SPEAKER_04 58:24

Yeah. So help out. This is a shout-out, call out right now. Yeah. Help out. You can even DM me or comment on the video.

SPEAKER_01 58:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 58:34

Or comment on the podcast. I'm so and so. I got an idea.

SPEAKER_00 58:38

Yes, we need ideas.

SPEAKER_04 58:39

Maybe we can do this.

SPEAKER_00 58:40

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 58:41

Right? Would that be awesome?

SPEAKER_00 58:43

That would be so awesome.

SPEAKER_04 58:44

But this would be for the whole community.

SPEAKER_00 58:47

Be for the whole community, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 58:48

The whole nation.

SPEAKER_00 58:49

The whole nation, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 58:51

Because you are together. You said you go watch other schools, games, and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 58:56

Yeah, we do. We do support each other. We're a community, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:00

That's so awesome.

SPEAKER_00 59:01

Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_04 59:02

And this community is very lucky with a capital L that you're here.

SPEAKER_00 59:07

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 59:09

I mean, you're you're gonna be impacting so many lives.

SPEAKER_00 59:14

Yeah, I I enjoy it. It's I can't imagine leaving or you know, doing anything else.

SPEAKER_04 59:20

So we need to support more people like Coach Kristen here. Because amazing things are happening. Lives are getting impacted.

SPEAKER_00 59:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:30

Kids are kids are getting to another level.

SPEAKER_00 59:34

Yeah, yeah. I really hope to see some of my girls, you know, move on to the next level that I started with. So when I started with them, they were 13 years old. They had never even played club because that was when we were there was no club.

SPEAKER_03 59:45

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_00 59:46

So now they're developing, and a lot of some of them have potential. So I'm really trying to push them and expose them.

SPEAKER_04 59:54

And so all right, so now I know I feel like I can talk to you forever.

SPEAKER_00 59:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:59

And we have been talking for a while.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:01

Yeah, we have.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:02

But I'm trying to wrap this up and say that so tomorrow and the next day I have clinics with kids from the reservation. I am like jacked.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:16

Why? Why? Why?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:18

Because I want to be like you and do the things that you're saying. I'm gonna caught I'm gonna copy you.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:26

Yeah, it gets exciting, right? When you learn, like, or you're when you're just like, yes, let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:31

And I I'm I'm gonna get up tomorrow morning because I get to go and turn on some light bulbs and uh and I want to do some of the things that you're describing that you do.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:44

Yeah, try it out.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:45

Because it sounds really amazing.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:46

Yeah, it'll be fun.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:48

And trust me, they are quiet, but once they start talking, you probably won't get them to stop talking.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:54

Okay. You'll have the opposite problem.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:56

Yeah, you'll be like, okay, calm down. I know.

unknown 1:01:00

I know.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:01

No.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:02

I'd rather have that.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:03

I think part of it too is like the girls are just really, I think they're really shy. And like, I think they see coach, you know, who's on TikTok, and they're just like, oh my gosh, this is him. He's here and he's coaching us. And probably that factor plays into it too. And they're like, he's here in Cainless, Arizona. How did he even get here? Like, nobody knows where this place is.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:25

And I'm just a regular guy, I'm just a volleyball coach. People ask me, Well, what do you do? I I I teach volleyball.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:32

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:33

I'm just a coach. I just want to help out.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:35

Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for coming out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:37

Thank you for taking the time to chat. This has been an amazing discussion. Chat, whatever you want to call it.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:44

Chat. Chat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:46

I want to listen to it. I can't wait to listen to it myself.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:49

Yeah, it'll be good.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:50

To rehear all the stuff that you said so I can use it tomorrow and the next day.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:55

Yeah. Yeah. Go for it. Go for it. High 10 right here. High 10.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:01

Okay. See you. See you guys. Appreciate you being here today. Keep learning. Keep growing. And remember, let's play volleyball because it's fun. And we'll see you in the next episode. Just go.