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Posts Tagged ‘Navy’

New Coupeville JV volleyball coach Heidi Wyman made her debut Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

   New Coupeville JV volleyball coach Heidi Wyman made her debut Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

She’s new to the job, but it’s not her first time on the job.

Heidi Wyman, who made her debut Tuesday as the coach of the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad, comes to the Wolves with a lifetime of experience.

A former player herself (she was All-District in high school and a tournament MVP during her college days), she’s coached high school, middle school, adult and club volleyball both on and off Whidbey Island.

Having come to the Island three years ago when her husband was transferred here by the Navy, she hopes to put down some serious roots.

“We love it here and hope to make it our home after my husband retires this fall,” Wyman said.

Since arriving on Whidbey, she’s coached the Whidbey Fury, a U12/13 squad based out of Oak Harbor.

Before that she coached at Meridian High School in Bellingham, as well as various stints in Minnesota and California.

And it’s not just volleyball for Wyman, who co-founded and coached a swim team in California, while also coaching soccer and football.

Having taken the #2 volleyball job with CHS, replacing Amy King, who downsized her coaching positions in the off-season, Wyman is eager to work with her band of freshmen and sophomores.

“I hope to teach the girls the life lessons that playing competitive volleyball bring —  teamwork, dedication, sportsmanship, commitment, focus and learning how to dig deep when the chips are down,” she said.

She’ll be working closely with Coupeville head coach Breeanne Smedley, while having some freedom to add her own spin to things.

“I prefer a 5-1 or 6-2 offense and these girls have the skill set to master it,” Wyman said. “I challenge the girls to develop strong serving, disciplined defense, solid communication and a “no ball hits the floor mentality”.

“We will run the JV similar to the varsity, adding weapons to their arsenal as they grow and develop.”

When she’s not coaching, Wyman works as a physical therapist for the Navy and enjoys spending time with her family “skiing, golfing, snowmobiling, mountain biking or on the sidelines cheering on the kids.”

As she approaches her newest venture, she hopes to impart her own love for the game to her new players.

“Volleyball is so much more than just a game,” Wyman said. “The life lessons taught during a competitive volleyball  season will significantly influence the growth and success a young woman has throughout her life.

“I look forward to being a part of that journey.”

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Josh Bayne (12), Coupeville's leading returning rusher, will work with a college football legend this fall. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

  Josh Bayne (12), Coupeville’s leading returning rusher, will work with a college football legend this fall. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Reggie Campbell

Reggie Campbell

One of the fastest players in recent college football history will be coaching Coupeville’s running backs this fall.

Reggie Campbell, who played for Navy from 2004-2007 and scored five touchdowns in the 2005 Poinsettia Bowl against Colorado State, is currently an officer at NAS Whidbey.

When football season rolls around, the man who laid down a sub-4.4 40-yard dash will be doing double duty as an assistant coach for the Wolf gridiron squad.

Jon Martin, a chief on base who is the dad of CHS player Jacob Martin, brought Campbell and Coupeville coach Tony Maggio together.

During his time on the gridiron for Navy, Campbell was a beast. Playing as a slot back, he averaged 7.5 yards per carry (third-best in school history) and 22.6 yards per catch (second-best).

While playing for Lake Mary High School in Florida, he was a three-time all-county, all-district and all-state football pick, while also being named MVP of his track team all four seasons.

Once at the Naval Academy, he made an immediate impact, making a 30-yard diving catch against Tulsa the first time he touched the ball in a college game.

His biggest performance came in the biggest spotlight, when he crushed Colorado State at the end of his sophomore season.

Campbell collected 290 all-purpose yards (116 rushing, 89 receiving, 85 return yards) and tied an NCAA bowl game record with his five touchdowns.

Among the players he holds the record with — Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders, arguably the greatest running back in the history of football.

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Some of the women who made news in 2013.

  Some of the women who made news in 2013. (Enlarge the photo to get the total poster-worthy collage experience.)

Women ruled in 2013.

Nine of the 15 most-viewed articles I produced this year were about female athletes (or non-athletes).

From South Whidbey’s exiled hoops star Hayley Newman at #3 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/02/01/exclusive-south-whidbeys-best-player-walks-talks/) to Wolf grad turned competitive bodybuilder Cavan Simonson at #9 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/03/cav-cav-kicks-some-well-toned-tushie/), it was a woman’s world.

Tragedy made an impact, in stories a person would prefer not to write.

The unexpected death of South Whidbey High School boys’ basketball coach Henry Pope (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/07/25/whidbey-loses-a-basketball-giant/) was the #1 most-read story of the year, while former CHS volleyball coach Kim Meche, and her battle with the cancer that eventually claimed her, nabbed slots #6 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/04/11/night-coach/), #10, and #13.

You didn’t need to be an athlete, as proved by appearances from a mysterious Navy wife at #2 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/07/28/exclusive-the-navy-wife-behind-i-support-the-olf-tells-all/) rock goddess Savanna Dohner at #11 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/18/music-has-my-heart-and-it-always-will/ and all-around goddess Zoie Tingstad at #15 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/10/18/say-a-prayer-for-zoie-please/).

And it wasn’t just the stories, as the feminine businesswomen ruled as well, with Kelsey Simmons Design having the most-viewed ad (by a large margin) among my 46 sponsors.

Helping her cause — a birthday article on Kelsey that topped out at #51 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/18/awesome-just-turned-30/), a feature story on her business (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/06/22/kelsey-simmons-is-awesome-by-design/) that ended up at #33 (Larry Bird’s number, which always bodes well), and a story on her wonder dog, Sitka, (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/09/26/worlds-most-talented-dog-missing-find-her-and-get-a-free-dinner/) that trumped mama by ten slots.

Dogs. Fluffy, fluffy doggies. They’re popular.

While stories about women were the most-read, the best way to get comments (lots and lots of comments) was to write about the always-popular topic of Coupeville vs. South Whidbey, especially if you were prone to pokin’ the Falcons, as I was.

The five most-commented-on articles I wrote all concerned South Whidbey, with the ensuing brouhaha launched on the Hayley Newman article providing the only time I have had to ever shut down a talk-back. The Falcon faithful and their crayons…

I mellowed (a bit) as the year went on, however, and tried to send a (small) olive branch or two South Whidbey way, with a feature on personable, graceful Falcon soccer star Maia Sparkman (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/06/30/the-falcons-are-alright-maia-sparkman-sparkles/) getting big hits.

Small steps.

As we move into 2014, what have we learned?

McKayla Bailey, aka The Photo Bomb Queen, always gets big page hits for her photos. Always.

Belgium is my go-to country (thanks to Iris Ryckaert), second only to the USA in terms of readership. Suck on that, Canada and Britain.

No one knows anything. Several times I watched stories I expected to be big die a hard death, while stories I had no hopes for turned into blockbusters.

And last, but not least. Always, always write about women. Always.

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