Former Bickleton star takes over as high school volleyball coach
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
The name Kim Naught is well known, not only in Bickleton, but across Klickitat County and in towns where the Bickleton Pirates played basketball and ran track and cross-country, some years ago.
A successful high school athlete who also made the basketball and cross country teams at Central Washington University, Kim Naught is looking to do her part as a coach at the school that developed her drive to excel.
Kim is now Kim Clinton and she has been teaching at Bickleton for 12 years. This fall, she takes over the volleyball coaching job, as Tom Whitmore steps down after 14 years at the helm. Whitmore says he is also relinquishing the reins on the basketball program.
The potential opening in the basketball coaching position was not known to Clinton, last spring when she was asked to consider becoming volleyball coach. While volleyball isn’t one of the sports Clinton excelled in, she is no stranger to volleyball, serving as an assistant to Whitmore for several years and following her sophomore daughter, Katelynn’s matches. Kim and her husband, Dave, also have a son Peter, who will be an eighth-grader at Bickleton this year.
Clinton describes herself as a very competitive person. For that reason, and a desire to allow her children to have their own sports experiences, Clinton was reluctant to coach once her children reached high school sports.
“We (Kim and Katelynn) discussed my coaching her and my concerns about being hard on her and my competitive nature,” says Clinton. Katelynn said she could handle it and encouraged her mother to “go for it.”
With that endorsement and her desire to “step up and help your school when they need you,” Clinton agreed to coach volleyball. She says the Lord led her to it.
So what can we expect at Bickleton this year? Conditioning and intensity are a good bet. Clinton began last June by asking players to sign a commitment to play hard and to meet some physical standards. Each girl had a goal to be met by the beginning of practice, which started this past Monday.
The intensity is likely to flow from the coach. “I can be very intense,” says Clinton. “I was never motivated by records, and actually hated running. But, I was determined to beat whoever was in second place,” says Clinton.
The Bickleton team will be young but not without experience and athleticism. “I am excited about this group of girls,” says Clinton. “They are all committed to playing together as a team.”
The Pirates were last in the conference with an 0-9 record last year, but played respectably against Klickitat and TLG late in the season. Bickleton won’t have to contend with the varsity squads of LaSalle and Riverside Christian this year, but it’s still a tough conference. Klickitat and Sunnyside Christian finished seventh and eighth, respectively, at State last year.
It may not be in the cards for Bickleton to be in the fight for first this year, but Clinton has a plan for her team, and while the competitive coach might have to settle for something less than first, it is certain she won’t settle for last.
Soroptimists host Golden Valley bicycle tour of south central Washington
Soroptimist International of Goldendale has put together three bicycle tours of the valleys, forests and fields of the Klickitat Valley with proceeds supporting Soroptimist programs for women and children. The approximate length of the tours are 100, 65 and 35 miles.
The tour date is Saturday, Sept. 20. Riders are free to depart any time between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. All tours will begin and end at the Goldendale Grange Hall.
The registration fee is $40 for the longer rides and $35 for the 35 mile ride. A $10 late fee is added for registrations received after Aug. 31.
Volunteer support vehicles will monitor the routes and aid stations with snacks and water will be distributed along the way.
Gravity athletes return for another shot at the loops
The Maryhill Loops proved to be irresistable following the International Gravity Sports Association (ISGA) world cup event last September. Their return engagement this week is for the ISGA World Championships. The open, long run on a near pristine road is hard to find, anywhere in the world.
Qualifying runs begin Friday at 1 p.m., but there is plenty of action for spectators during open practices, which run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, and until noon on Friday. Final races run all day on Sunday.
The variety of classes add to the interest of the sport. There will be downhill skateboards, in-line skating, street and classic luge, and gravity bicycles.
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