Oregon State students gain experience

By KYLE ODEGARD

Corvallis Gazette-Times

Oregon State University senior Taza Muncie-Jarvis stays busy with three majors. But twice a week, she takes a timeout from classes, schoolwork and the college scene to be the boss of eight fifth-grade girls.

"Arms up! Arms up!" she shouted to her youth basketball team on Saturday. They listened, and a player promptly stole a pass and led the fast break. "Take it all the way. Nice shot. Linh, good job," Muncie-Jarvis cheered over the sound of feet pounding the hardwood.

The 23-year-old isn't unusual for a volunteer coach in the Corvallis Parks & Recreation league.

OSU students made up 65 of the 74 basketball coaches for the system this year, said Robert Thornberg, the city's recreation coordinator.

City youth league practices are in the afternoons, so it's difficult for many parents to supervise a team during the season, which ends next week.

"The elementary and middle school kids really connect well with the college kids, so putting the two of them together is almost always a positive experience. … They do a great job, so we like having them," Thornberg said.

"Any drawbacks are far outweighed by the plusses. You'll get a younger kid that isn't as responsible that you have to work with or watch out for. But you get that with adults, too. They require a little more training sometimes," he added.

The Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis, which has evening practices for its more competitive leagues and concentrates on middle school students, had about 10 OSU student coaches out of 175 total.

Club officials said college students made energetic, enthusiastic and positive coaches.

Ten-year-old Ally Beattie said Muncie-Jarvis, who also led her volleyball team this year, is her favorite coach ever. "She cheers a lot. It just brings your spirit up," Ally said.

Terry Adams, whose daughter plays for Muncie-Jarvis, said that many of the OSU student coaches want to go into education careers.

College student coaches said they enjoy seeing the youths learn and succeed.

"I feel like I've had a lot of accomplishments in my life, but I'm most proud when I see my girls doing something they didn't think they could or something they'd been working hard toward," said Muncie-Jarvis, who was a three-sport star at Beaverton High School.

"I really like seeing how excited the girls get. To me, it's neat to see them encouraged to do something other than a typical girl thing," said Jaclyn Stenberg, who has coached in the Corvallis Parks & Recreation system for three years and now has a squad of second- and third-graders.

While Stenberg played high school sports, Brodie Miles didn't. He understood enough from playing as a child to coach basketball for two years, as well as flag football.

The 21-year-old began volunteering to escape from the pressure of his microbiology major, even just for one practice and one game a week. But he also enjoys being able to see his team progress and likes how the fifth-graders look up to him.

"The reward is definitely worth it," he said.

Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.