Six team members of the inaugural 1984 BGM Volleyball team were recognized during homecoming activities at the school on Thursday, Oct. 10. The team was coached by Corky Stuart, who was also present. After recognition, those present spent time reflecting and remember with Coach Stuart and the other players. Picture are, from left: Lori Collum, Brenda (Plants) Strong, Diane (Roudabush) Cadden, Coach Corky Stuart, Kelly Stevenson, Tammy (Stevenson) Long and Angie (Stevenson) Thompson. By J.O. Parker Homecoming at BGM was more than a parade and pep rally for some former graduates. It was a time of reflection and remembrance as the 1984 inaugural BGM Varsity Volleyball team was recognized. Six of the 13-member team, along with former coach Corky Stuart, were introduced and recognized at the close of the BGM JV 1 volleyball match against Sigourney at the school on Thursday, Oct. 10. Angie (Stevenson) Thompson, who was a freshman at BGM that first year, remembers playing with two of her sisters. Her sister, Tammy, was a senior and her sister, Kelly, was a sophomore on that first team. “Pretty rare to have three sisters on a high school team at the same time,” said Thompson. “They called us the Stevenson girls. I was the youngest player on the very first team, just turning 14-years-old days before our very first practice ever.” A fourth Stevenson sister, Kristy (Stevenson) Cooling, played volleyball for BGM a few years later in the early 90s. The six present at the 40-year reunion included: Diane (Roudabush) Cadden, Brenda (Plants) Strong, Lori Collum, Tammy (Stevenson) Long, Kelly Stevenson and Angie (Stevenson) Thompson. Those not present included: Teresa (Nicklas) Beck, Shelly (Strong) Sampson, Shelly (Smith) Doubleday, Debbie (Smith) Blycker, LeAnn (Duncan) Winton, Michelle (Heishman) Thomas and Beth (Kriegel) Maurer. Coach Stuart said volleyball replaced fall softball at BGM and neighboring Belle Plaine that year. “They were the first and only two SICL teams to start volleyball that season,” recalled Stuart. “I was the first BGM volleyball coach paid to coach the sport.” Stuart chuckled when he told some of the girls after the introduction and photos that he had a lot more hair back then. Stuart said prior to the formation of the volleyball team, then PE instructor Linda Korns taught volleyball in her classes. He said a lot of schools taught the sport that way in the early days. “The students learned to play skillfully well,” recalled Stuart. “High school classes had teams that played in a tournament to decide the school championship team. From the students, an all-star team was selected to play the staff at a school assembly.” Stuart said Korns’ leadership and willingness to let some students complain while she completed undaunted in doing it the right way, gave the BGM volleyball team an inside track in developing the sport’s passing and handling skills. Stuart said it was in the spring of 1984 that school leaders started talking about developing a volleyball team in the fall of that year or the fall of 1985. “I told them that I couldn’t see any advantage in waiting a year if we could start in 1984,” said Stuart. “The US volleyball team won a silver medal in the Olympics driving a real rush in the growth of the sport (across the nation).” Stuart said he attended a clinic in Minnesota where the speaker was a coach from USC. “It didn’t take me long to figure out this was above my level of understanding, especially when he said his shortest player was 5’ 10,” said Stuart. “It was a good experience,” Stuart said of attending the clinic. “One of the most beneficial things was running into a fellow Chariton High School grad, who was a brother of a classmate of mine, who was coaching volleyball in Clarinda. He gave me a few basic bits of encouragement and information.” Stuart said he also attend a USVBA (United States Volleyball Association) Camp in Lamoni at Graceland University, one of two that he participated in as a coach. He said the experience was enjoyable and beneficial playing with a group of coaches in a pool of top ranked girls at the camp. “During our drills and scrimmages, I sometimes found myself in the right places at the right time without why or how I was there,” recalled Stuart. “The coaches’ coach was a high school coach from Hawaii. She was very understanding, patient and positive when dealing with me and the other coaches.” Volleyball rules in the early years Stuart mentioned a handful of rules of the early years of volleyball at BGM. They include the following: In the fall each year the old gym at BGM was invaded by crickets because the gym doors where open to cool the building down. Each team had to take their own balls to some of the matches because the schools didn’t have enough for both teams for warm ups. A lot of girls served underhanded. Serves had to be served from the right – 10-feet from the service line. The centerline was 4” wide. If a player stepped on it the ball went to the other team. Volleyball antennae was used to set a ball’s width outside the sideline. Bad serves didn’t score points. It was just a side out and the serve went to the other team. Front row players could block the serves. Only three subs per player. No libero (a player on an indoor volleyball team who serves as a defensive specialist and is not allowed to serve or rotate to the front line). Game balls used to have to be white. Memories and highlights Some of Stuart’s memories of the early days coaching volleyball at BGM included the following: He recalled Tammy Stevenson playing all season with a taped up broken wrist. He recalled the time that Kelly Stevenson got tangled up in the net lower cable and hurt her ribs in a match at Belle Plaine. He recalled the time Angie Stevenson had her best spike ever at SEMCO. He said Teresa (Nicklas) Beck had the ability to go to the side with a lunge to dig up a well hit low ball. “Having only 13 players that first season made it possible for me to see that all players got playing time,” recalled Stuart. Stuart said the first year at a game against SEMCO, the Mustangs were up two games to none at BGM with a score in their favor of 10-1. “BGM showed a lot of heart and came back to win the match, 3-2,” he said. When asked, Stuart said he doesn’t remember the record that first year. He did recall coaching varsity, junior varsity and junior high volleyball at BGM during his tenure. “It was pretty special to have all of us represent BGM volleyball in the early going,” noted Thompson. Beth (Kriegel) Maurer, who was not present at the reunion event, said in a message that in the early going, she was terrified of the drills the coach had them doing. “Diving onto the ground on our stomachs was to be OK, just because we had knee pads on,” recalled Maurer. “We had to do it over and over until we weren't scared to dive for the ball.” She said one of the worst drills was squatting under the net and having to walk the length of it without touching the net. “That taught us to stay low,” she said. Another drill, she said, was diving for the ball and rolling to get back on her feet. “I always felt ridiculous and scared doing drills when Coach Stuart was diving and rolling around on the ground like it was nothing,” she said. “There were many knee and elbow burns and bruises throughout the season.” “Being a part of the BGM volleyball team was such an amazing opportunity and experience for me,” said Debbie (Smith) Blycker via messenger. Blycker said that prior to being a part of the that first team, she wasn’t known for being very athletic. “But Mr. Stuart was very encouraging to help us all learn the sport and be disciplined and work hard,” she said. Blycker said the game became a passion for her and she enjoyed playing it that much. “We had a few rough starts in competition, but we actually did pretty good for our first year and increasingly got better,” said Blycker. “I was usually one of the main servers and loved that position. I’m very thankful that that was a part of my life and my growing up experience in high school. Go BGM Bears volleyball team!” “Being a part of the inaugural team was very special,” added Brenda (Plants) Strong. “I agree, it was fun,” said Diane (Roudabush) Cadden. “It was 13 of us compared to 28 on this year’s team. My daughter, Katelyn, a freshman, is on the JV team. It is special that I played on the inaugural team and my daughter is playing 40-years later.” “I want to thank all the girls that I had the privilege of coaching,” said Stuart. “Also thanks to Steve Alig and Gary Schroeder, who I coached with and learned from as I tried to correct my mistakes and improve each year. I think that is what most coaches would like from their players.” “I feel we had the best camaraderie,” said former player Lori Collum. Former BGM Volleyball Coach Corky Stuart reflects with six of his 13 players from the inaugural 1984 BGM Volleyball team after they were recognized at the school on Thursday, Oct. 10.
1 Comment
Sherry Wiley
10/17/2024 03:48:39 pm
I was Sherry Williams then; and I learned all the rules and became a volleyball ref because Corky Stuart was the coach of the inaugural team at BGM.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Categories |