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Posts Tagged ‘Dustin Van Velkinburgh’

Burnin’ up, baby!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Dante MItchell (John Fisken photo)

Dante Mitchell had seven points and four steals in Coupeville’s win Saturday. (John Fisken photos)

Hunter Downes

Hunter Downes showing the kind of dead-eye aim that the Wolves have enjoyed team-wide.

Do you smell smoke? Cause someone is on fire!

Racing past host Mount Vernon Christian 58-47 Saturday, the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball squad captured its fifth win in its last six games.

Using a mix of stellar defense (the Wolves zipped away with 20 steals) and electrifying long-range shooting (eight three-balls hit nothing but the bottom of the net), CHS surged to 5-6 on the season.

“The recent emergence of the long ball has given our offense a healthy jolt of energy,” said Wolf coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh. “We led wire to wire.

“These kids are playing for one another, with 100% conviction and maximum effort and having fun doing it,” he added. “I love to watch them play.”

Coupeville spread the offense around, with DeAndre Mitchell surging to the front of the pack with an 18-point, seven rebound, seven steal, two blocked shot performance.

Half of Mitchell’s points came via the long ball, as the junior rained down three treys.

Hunter Smith and Brian Shank both dropped in a pair of three-point bombs, while Luke Merriman chipped in with one of his own.

Smith hit for 10 points, while Gabe Wynn (8), Dante Mitchell (7), Shank (6), Desmond Bell (4), Merriman (3) and Hunter Downes (2) rounded out the offensive explosion.

Smith made off with six steals while Dante Mitchell nabbed four.

Merriman and Smith each had three assists, with Wynn hauling in four boards.

The young Wolves will put their three-game winning streak on the line Wednesday, Jan. 21 with a home game against Chimacum.

The Coupeville JV is 2-0 in Olympic League play entering that contest, with wins over Klahowya and Port Townsend.

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We got hops! Let’s play hoops!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on December 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

A Meridian defender gets extra-chesty with Gasbe Wynn

  A Meridian defender gets extra-chesty with Gabe Wynn. It doesn’t work. (John Fisken photos)

Risen

Risen Johnson floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

team

   Proving the girls’ hoops players are NOT the only ones who can play to the camera, we have (back, l to r) CJ Smith, Wynn, Aaron Curtin, Johnson, Dalton Martin. Front, Aaron Trumbull, Joel Walstad, Matt Shank, Ryan Griggs, Wiley Hesselgrave.

Curtin

Curtin gets a wee bit intense.

CJ

Smith has places to go and ankles to break.

coaches

Wolf coaches Dustin Van Velkinburgh (left) and Anthony Smith discuss strategy.

Joel

Walstad, a deadly shooter from the charity stripe.

Trumbull

   Trumbull vows not to breathe again until the ball gets in the hoop. Spoiler: it did and he did.

Time to play some hoops.

Monday night kicked off a new basketball season and travelin’ photo man John Fisken was on the scene in Coupeville to document the happenings.

The photos above capture the Wolf boys’ varsity squad, which will kick off its season with five games in eight days.

Take a gander, learn their names and sit back and wait to be entertained. The resurgence of CHS hoops continues.

Like what you see? Need more? Pop over to:

http://www.olympicleague.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=7360&league=21&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=24&sport=0

And, as always, a percentage of all sales goes to fund college scholarships for CHS senior student/athletes. Something to keep in mind.

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V is for Victory!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Boys Basketball, Football, Happy birthday, tagged , , , , on August 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Coach V

Coach V

Coupeville is blessed with a strong group of coaches.

Across the board, regardless of the sport, at the high school, middle school, youth or select team levels, Cow Town has a group of men and women who show great commitment to their athletes and work with them on both a sports and a personal level.

One of the best of the group, Dustin Van Velkinburgh, aka Coach V, hits the big 3-0 today.

And, while his advancing years may require him to seek out a walker and a stiff shot of prune juice (says a guy 13 years older…), there is no quit in the guy.

A very talented athlete in his day (football, basketball, soccer and on and on), he can still kick the pampered rears of most, if not all, of his players.

But, while that reality lingers out there, Coach V is the perfect example of a player’s coach.

One who knows when to be a kid’s best friend and when to be the guy in charge. When to console and cheer and when to push.

He remembers what it was like to be a young man without a father figure.

What it was like to find guidance and the (occasional) kick in the rear from coaches like Ron Bagby and Randy King during his own days as a Wolf.

It made him a man, one who has gone on to raise a swarm of happy children with wife Jessica.

Coupeville gave him much in his younger days, something he speaks of often. And he has returned the favor over the years, giving back to the children of a community he deeply loves.

There is no artifice. No question dodging. He remains the same after a big win as after a horrifying loss.

A small smile, a quiet word off to the side to one kid, a public calling-out of another.

He finds out how they tick, what will drive them and what will crumple them, and he hits all the right notes, fitting his lesson to them as individuals, not faceless cogs in an athletic factory.

Coach V, and others like him, are doing more than making athletes. They are given teenagers and they do their best to help them prepare for life after the cheers and pep rallies.

If they win games, great, but the bigger victories come years later, when the next Coach V stays in town (or returns) and picks up the mantle. The man makes a kid a man and he pays it forward.

Every community worth its salt has a coach like Dustin. That one guy who is his town through and through.

Who, only years later, when you see his legacy in full, do you realize the impact he had. The lives he steered in the right direction, the kids he gave a last chance to, the way he altered destinies, sometimes subtly and sometimes with a bold hand.

In Coupeville, we call him Coach V, and we should be very, very grateful we have him.

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Football or hoops, Vargas plays all-out!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Football, tagged , , , , on August 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Isaac Vargas prepares to snatch a rebound in a game last year. (John Fisken photo)

Isaac Vargas prepares to snatch a rebound in a game last year. (John Fisken photo)

Isaac Vargas is almost the accidental football player.

The Coupeville High School senior, who sees time at outside linebacker and right guard for the Wolves, didn’t start playing until last year.

While he had starting playing basketball a year earlier, it took a little more of a nudge to get him out on the gridiron.

“Well, I actually started last year on a whim,” Vargas said. “I never played before that and never actually thought about playing until last year.

“Though, as far back as I can remember I’ve always wanted to play,” he added. “So I guess you could say I joined by chance (and a little nudge from Coach V).”

Wolf assistant coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh was also at least partially responsible for Vargas hitting the hard-court, and Vargas remains grateful for the prodding.

“The two people that really stick out to me are my basketball coaches — Coach V and Coach (Anthony) Smith,” Vargas said. “They convinced me to play basketball my sophomore year, which really changed my whole outlook on life and helped me become a better person.”

A scrapper on the boards, Vargas plays with a single-minded intensity that is admirable.

At one point early in his hoops career, when he was still wearing his glasses while on the court, he had them knocked off of his face by a stray elbow.

Instead of stopping to put them back on, Vargas kicked them towards the bench, never breaking stride as he chased after his defensive assignment. Picking up the glasses, Coach V just nodded, a slight smile on his lips.

While Vargas would give hoops a slight edge (“I would say I’m partial to basketball; I’m not sure why though”), football has his attention fully right now.

As a new season approaches, Vargas has strong goals, both on a personal level and for his team.

“What I really want to work on more is memorizing my responsibilities for defense and offense, so that when I go in a game I know I’m prepared,” he said. “I would love to get at least one interception this year!

“I really want to make it to the playoffs and definitely believe we can,” Vargas added. “My other big goal is to beat South Whidbey this year and get our bucket back.”

Away from the field, he enjoys spending time with family and friends (“After a long day I like to come home and watch a movie with the family”), while also working out.

“I guess I enjoy accomplishing the goals I work towards, for example working in the weight room and then being able to hold my blocks on offense, simple things really,” Vargas said. “Other than that I really love working together as a team and making sure I do my part to win games.

“My strengths would probably be that I listen real well to what my coaches are saying and that I’m a hard worker.”

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“Next year will be a break-out year!!”

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , on February 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CJ Smith lines up a free throw. (John Fisken photos)

CJ Smith lines up a free throw. (John Fisken photos)

Isaac Vargas gets his body in between an opposing player and a potential rebound.

Isaac Vargas gets his body in between an opposing player and a potential rebound.

Beauman Davis triggers the play.

Beauman Davis triggers the play.

It was a season of progress.

The Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball team didn’t set the world on fire with its win-loss record, but there were a lot of positives.

Players who show potential for the seasons to come. Moments when, as a team, the Wolves looked promising.

Now, as Coupeville gets free of playing 700-student 2A schools — CHS, the smallest 1A school in the state, is leaving the eight-team 1A/2A Cascade Conference and moving into a new four-team 1A division of the Olympic League this fall — the goal is simple.

Get more floor time.

Coupeville is rebuilding its feeder programs, which had fallen on hard times in recent years, and the Wolves will play much more off-season ball than in years past.

Sending experienced players onto the court — regardless of who the competition may be — is paramount for success.

Wolf JV coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh’s thoughts as he looks back at the season just wrapped and what’s ahead:

After some time to reflect, I have come to the conclusion that our JV season was more a success than numbers and wins would suggest.

With a very athletic group of kids, at times we were able to play with almost every team we faced. In every game this year we had spurts where we played good basketball.

Over half of our JV team are in their infancy of their basketball careers, having played less than three years.

In talking to other coaches who have been successful (as far as wins) there is one commonality — their kids play a ton of basketball every year.

Some teams play as many as 100 games. And that’s only counting the games that are organized by their coaches.

We have a group of athletes coming through our program that have the ability to have success, but how much success is directly linked to how hard they decide to work in the off-season.

I’m very excited to see who steps up to be a leader for this group.

Next year, I believe, will be a break-out year for our program, helping to restore some of the prominence that once surrounded the CHS boys’ basketball program.

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