SPORTS
Hickey takes over as Bellevue volleyball coach
In early May, Bellevue announced the hiring of the program’s next volleyball coach Jaimie Hickey.
Hickey is coming from her first head coaching stint at Poolville last year, where she coached the girl’s basketball team. That came after a decade served as an assistant coach in all manner of sports at both the junior high and high school level at Bowie and City View.
While she thought of herself more of as a basketball coach, Hickey wanted to work closer to where her family was living, with her husband Corey working at Bowie schools as the transportation supervisor.
Bellevue reached out to her and she was convinced after sitting down with principal Lori Shoemaker and superintendent Wade Wesley.
“I felt like it was a good fit for me and where I am heading in my own career and profession,” Hickey said. “A little change of scenery will be fun.”
The Lady Eagles are entering only their third season of volleyball.
Despite the inexperience, the numbers have been good and Bellevue made a jump in its second season by competing for a playoff spot within the district, finishing fourth overall.
The team loses only one player to graduation as most key players enter their third season playing the sport and graduate to being upperclassmen as well.
Being a part of that journey appealed to Hickey, recalling her time at City View as she helped turn the Lady Mustangs volleyball program into a respectable one that routinely makes the playoffs.
Her one year serving as head coach at Poolville was one where she learned a lot.
“The experience of going from the second seat to the first seat was an experience in itself,” Hickey said. “I am very used to working behind the scenes. That was an adjustment. But all the positions I have held have prepared me.”
She describes herself as a teacher on the court, emphasizing the student part of the student/athlete.
Hickey wants her kids to know the game and understand the why of things, meaning her athletes should be ready to listen since she has been told she is quite chatty when talking techniques and concepts.
“I want them to have enough that they grasp it, so that in the moment whenever they do it, all the work made it worth it,” Hickey said.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Bellevue’s girl’s basketball team led at halftime but a quick 9-0 Jacksboro run in the opening moments of the second half would prove the difference in a 28-25 Lady Eagle loss June 15 in a Nocona Summer League game.
Leading 12-9 at the half, Bellevue continued to shut down the inside game of the Tigerettes. Jacksboro switched tactics and began firing from outside. Three 3-pointers in the span of just under two minutes gave Jacksboro an 18-12 lead.
Bellevue kept things close, however, getting on the second half scoreboard with Mattie Broussard’s basket and free throws cutting the deficit to two, 18-16. A Haven Jones 3-pointer put the Lady Eagles up 19-18 midway through the second half.
The Tigerettes had just one 3 -pointer the rest of the way but got inside for a pair of buckets to take a 25-21 lead with 4:50 to go. Both offenses shut down late.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Most school-age athletes start off playing everything. By the time they graduate, they whittle it down to just one or two.
New Bowie girl’s track and overall cross country coach Shawnda Childers is no exception. While at Iowa Park she competed in volleyball, cross country and track before cutting out volleyball and focusing on track and cross country to close out high school.
Childers did not stay with athletics while moving on to Midwestern State University, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s Degrees. After graduation, shestarted coaching in Electra. She came to Bowie for one year, then went back to her old stomping grounds in Iowa Park where she spent the next four years.
The return home also put her in contact with now-Bowie Coach Griffin Fields, who was a coach there at the time. From Iowa Park, she spent the next three years at City View.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
New Saint Jo Girl’s Basketball Coach Grant Gooch isn’t completely unfamiliar with the area.
“We went to Muenster quite a bit when I was a kid,” Gooch, who will be going into his 20th year as a coach, said. “We’d load up the cooler from the meat markets. It’s good to be back.”
Gooch worked with Saint Jo Athletic Director CJ Hantz when the pair were in Throckmorton. Gooch comes to town from Menard where he spent three years at the West Texas school.
Gooch says coaching and education kind of come naturally to him.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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