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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2021
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ON THE SLATE
SATURDAY, SEPT. 4
Prep volleyball
Weston-McEwen at East vs. West Tourna-
ment at Heppner, 9 a.m.
Pendleton at McKay Tournament, 7 a.m.
Powder Valley at Nixyaawii, 10 a.m.
Powder Valley at Griswold, 1 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Prairie City/Burnt River,
TBD
Irrigon at Stanfi eld, 9 a.m.
Elgin at Stanfi eld, 10:30 a.m.
Joseph at Stanfi eld, noon
Elgin vs. Irrigon, at Stanfi eld, 12:45 p.m.
Wallowa at Echo, 9 a.m.
Union at Echo, 10:30 a.m.
Prescott at Echo, noon
Prep girls soccer
Hanford at Hermiston, noon
Prep cross-country
Heppner, Umatilla at The Ultimook Race,
Tillamook, 11:30 a.m.
College football
Montana Western at EOU, 4 p.m.
College volleyball
Corban at EOU, 7 p.m.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Nixyaawii’s new head volleyball coach, Jacinthia Stanley, center, celebrates with her team Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, following a 3-1 win
over the Pilot Rock Rockets.
SHARING HER
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 8
College volleyball
Blue Mountain at WWCC, 6 p.m.
College men’s soccer
Wenatchee Valley at Blue Mountain,
4:15 p.m.
College women’s soccer
Yakima Valley at Blue Mountain, 2 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Baker at Riverside, 5 p.m.
Ontario at Pendleton, 4 p.m.
LOVE
OF THE GAME
Stanley fi nds her way back to Nixyaawii volleyball
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
M
ISSION — Growing
up on the Navajo reser-
vation in Kayenta,
Arizona, Jacinthia Stanley did
just about anything school and
sports related to avoid work-
ing on the family farm, which
included cattle, sheep and horses.
That led to her playing several
sports in high school and college,
and now it has brought her to
coaching the volleyball team at
Nixyaawii Community School
on the Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion in Eastern Oregon.
“I love this game and I love
playing with the girls,” Stan-
ley said. “I want them to build a
sisterhood and become empow-
ered. I want to teach the game I
love. I’m blessed to have such a
good team that is willing to play
and grow together.”
Stanley, 36, is not new to the
Nixyaawii program. She was an
assistant coach when the Golden
Eagle co-opted with Pilot Rock a
few years ago, and was an assis-
tant for the 2014 team when the
school fi nally was able to fi eld a
team of its own.
“I was part of the fi rst volley-
ball team at Nixyaawii,” Stanley
said. “After the 2014 season, I
had to go back to Arizona to help
my family. By the time I came
back, they had a new coach and
I didn’t have the time to dedicate
to the game.”
Stanley worked for Yellow
Hawk Tribal Health Center at
the time, and her free time was
limited.
“I worked in mental health
and suicide prevention,” she said.
“I was director of the program.
When I got pregnant, I slowed
down. It was time to turn off
everything and focus on my
health and our son.”
Stanley, and her husband,
Lindsey Watchman, have a son
Jaylen, 2, and combined with
Watchman’s kids from a previ-
ous relationship, they have seven
all together.
“I got an instant family,”
Stanley said. “My step-daughter
Grace is on the team, and I had
been working with her on our
own time and that has helped
build our relationship.”
This spring, the Golden
Eagles were looking for a coach,
and Stanley felt it was time to get
back on the court.
“I decided to take a crack at
it,” she said. “I think the biggest
thing is the mental game.
Reminding the girls they (oppo-
nents) can get in their head and
it can take the game away from
you. They are really good about
taking feedback and listening to
what I have to say.”
The Golden Eagles are off
to a 2-0 start to the season with
wins over Riverside and Pilot
Rock. They host Powder Valley
at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4.
Sports shaped her future
As much as sports and school
kept her from farm chores, they
also took her to college.
She ran track and cross-coun-
try at Haskell Indian Nations
University in Lawrence, Kansas.
After two years at Haskell, she
transferred to the University of
Arizona, but that did not last
long.
“I got to Arizona, then real-
ized I wanted to go back to the
tribal school setting,” Stanley
said.
Back to Haskell she went.
This time, she walked onto the
volleyball team, where she was
TUESDAY, SEPT. 7
Prep volleyball
Hermiston at Hanford, 7 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Umatilla at McLoughlin, 5:30 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Dufur, 6 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Hermiston at Kennewick, 7 p.m.
Umatilla at Trout Lake, 4 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
McLoughlin at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
a libero. She was a setter in high
school.
“I got my bachelors there,”
Stanley said of Haskell. “Then
I went to University of Oregon
and got my master’s degree in
education.”
She met her husband in the
master’s program at UO and
moved to the Pendleton area in
2011.
Though she and her husband
are from diff erent tribal cultures,
Stanley said she enjoys learning.
“I gravitate toward tribal
communities,” she said. “When
I was in Eugene, I looked for
tribal settings. Coming here and
becoming part of my husband’s
community has been nice. It’s
had its challenges.”
In addition to coaching
volleyball, Stanley also started
a small business around the time
her son was born. Her online
boutique — Salty Black Sheep
Creations (saltybsc.com) — sells
jewelry and accessories. The
creations are her own.
“It was kind of a blessing
during COVID,” she said. “I
recently hit 10,000 followers on
Instagram.”
THURSDAY, SEPT. 9
Prep football
Enterprise at Pilot Rock, 7 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Pendleton at Baker, 6:30 p.m.
Pasco at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Irrigon, 5 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Wallowa, 6 p.m.
McLoughlin at Griswold, 4 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Griswold, TBD
Riverside at Umatilla, 5 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Pasco at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
McLoughlin at Stanfi eld/Echo, 5 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Prescott at Riverside, 4 p.m.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 10
Prep football
Wilsonville at Pendleton (at PHS), 7 p.m.
Hermiston at Sunnyside, 7 p.m.
La Grande at McLoughlin, 7 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Imbler, 2 p.m.
Umatilla at Irrigon, 7 p.m.
Pine Eagle at Echo, 7 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Nestucca, 7 p.m.
Stanfi eld a Culver, 7 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Catlin Gabel at Riverside, 4 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Irrigon at Trout Lake, 5 p.m.
Prep cross-country
Hermiston, Griswold, Weston-McE-
wen, Umatilla at Runners Soul XC Fest,
Umatilla, 5 p.m.
Pendleton, Heppner, McLoughlin, Nixy-
aawii, Stanfi eld/Echo, Pilot Rock, River-
side at Catherine Creek Scamper, TBD
Prep volleyball
Umatilla, Irrigon, McLoughlin at Baker
Tournament, TBD
Echo at Lyle/Wishram, 5 p.m.
College volleyball
Blue Mountain vs. Central Wyoming at
STARR Invite, 1 p.m.
Blue Mountain vs. Salt Lake CC at Starr
Invite, 3 p.m.
Walla Walla at EOU, 2 p.m.
SPORTS SHORT
EOU’s Plut named World Lacrosse Coaching Development Trainer
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon University women’s
lacrosse coach Monica Plut
has been selected to become
a World Lacrosse Coaching
Development Trainer after
being nominated by Panama
Lacrosse.
As a nominee for Panama
Lacrosse, Plut went through
the full World Lacrosse
coaching development train-
ing curriculum alongside
coaches from 18 other coun-
tries.
Of all the nominees, only
two were chosen to present at
the Pan-American Lacrosse
Association Sixes Cup at their
headquarters in Auburndale,
Florida. The training will take
place over Labor Day week-
end.
Plut, who is entering her
second season at Eastern,
was selected to present along
with Oscar Morales from
Colombia Lacrosse. The two
coaches were selected among
a panel of countries around
the world.
At the PALA Sixes Cup,
Plut and Morales will deliver
the World Lacrosse Coaching
Development clinic that will
specifically teach coaches
about the new World Lacrosse
Sixes Discipline, which World
Lacrosse aims to implement
for when the sport of lacrosse
makes its potential debut in
the 2028 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles.
“I am honored to continue
to grow the game and be a
coaching development trainer
at not only the national level,
but also the international
level now,” Plut said. “I look
forward to working with
other coaches and trainers
and continuing to learn from
all the wonderful people in
the lacrosse community. It
is an exciting time for our
sport, as well as the new, fast
paced, high energy discipline
of World Lacrosse Sixes to
help get lacrosse into the 2028
Olympics.”
In August, Plut was named
Panama Lacrosse’s U20 head
coach and works directly with
the organization that hopes to
compete in the 2028 Summer
Olympics.
Eastern Oregon University Athletics/Contributed Photo
Eastern Oregon University women’s lacrosse coach
Monica Plut has been selected to become a World
Lacrosse Coaching Development Trainer.