Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Godfathers Fundraiser
Godfathers Pizza at Heritage Square on 164th and Fourth Plain Blvd is having a fundraising evening for Kat on April 28th from 4 -8 PM. They will donate 30 percent of the profits for that evening. Thank you to former Mountain View graduate Melaine McClure the manager at Godfathers for her efforts in organizing this event.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Columbian Article
PAUL VALENCIA: Ex-coach’s love for player returns to fore
Tuesday, March 24 11:06 p.m.
A high school coach, a good high school coach, is a coach forever.Leta Meyer has been out of the day-in, day-out coaching business for years. She is still very much into sports, of course. She might even be considered the face of Heritage High School’s athletic programs as the school’s athletic coordinator.But once a coach always a coach.This spring, Meyer is helping out a former athlete. Katina Fotiou, Mountain View Class of 1989, is in need of a surgery to rid herself of a non-cancerous tumor pushing against her brain stem.In the days before freshmen were at the high school campus, Fotiou became a nine-letter varsity athlete in her three years with the Thunder, shining in soccer, basketball, and softball. Meyer was the team’s basketball coach back then."She was my starting point guard for three years," said Meyer, proudly pointing out that in 1988, the Thunder won the district title and made it to state. "She was really steady for me, just a great kid in all the sports that she played. She was a steady contributor, all three years."This is a person who gave me a lot," Meyer added. "Now it’s my turn to give back to her."Fotiou, who moved to Texas three years ago, said she has not been feeling like herself for close to five years. At first, doctors told her it was sinus blockage. Then allergies. Yet nothing seemed to alleviate her pain. Then she started getting headaches, which would lead to spells of vomiting. In January, doctors found the tumor.Knowing the problem and fixing it are two separate issues, though. Fotiou does not have insurance, and her doctors will not schedule the surgery until she comes up with $20,000.That’s when her former teammates started talking, which led to getting in touch with their former coach, and now, the Mountain View Thunder of the late 1980s are back together again — in solidarity for one of their own."As coach and teammates, we decided we needed to do something for her," Meyer said.There is a Web site — donatetokat.blogspot.com — that tells Fotiou’s story and allows for donations. Meyer has organized a golf tournament to raise funds, too. The Benefit for Kat Golf Tournament is May 2 at Camas Meadows. The donate-to-kat Web site has all the details."If we get a full field, we can raise $15,000," Meyer said.While Meyer wishes the circumstances were different, she is thrilled to be back in touch with so many of her former players, students. And it’s not just the basketball team, not just the Class of 89. Meyer has heard from several years’ worth of Mountain View graduates, and donations, small and big, are coming in via the Web site.It has made her think of all those years as a coach, before she traded her whistle in for a computer to organize Heritage’s sports. Meyer was a head coach in volleyball for 18 years. She had the basketball job for six years. She had a golf job. Assisted in track and field. And also coached softball. This all happened in the days before girls sports boomed, back when old-school traditions were fighting with new-school attitudes. The female athletes of those years shared a sisterhood."I knew them all, and they knew me," Meyer said. "They just loved each other. I loved them, and they loved me. We worked together to build a championship and build a strong athletic program at Mountain View."That sisterhood is still strong. Sure, Fotiou now lives in Texas, but most of her support group remains in Vancouver. With the help of Web sites such as Facebook, it is easier to stay in touch nowadays."What is neat is the contact from former players I haven’t heard from in 15, 20 years," Meyer said. "They’re offering their help. We’re all one team."So this week, as Meyer sat at her desk, working the phones to make sure a bus would arrive to pick up a team, or to re-schedule a rainout, or any of the myriad things associated with an athletic coordinator’s job, she got to reflect on her former life. Which, in a way, never really went away."I’m still Coach, even though I’m sitting here," she said.And she still loves her job.Paul Valencia covers high school sports for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4557 or e-mail at paul.valencia@columbian.com
Tuesday, March 24 11:06 p.m.
A high school coach, a good high school coach, is a coach forever.Leta Meyer has been out of the day-in, day-out coaching business for years. She is still very much into sports, of course. She might even be considered the face of Heritage High School’s athletic programs as the school’s athletic coordinator.But once a coach always a coach.This spring, Meyer is helping out a former athlete. Katina Fotiou, Mountain View Class of 1989, is in need of a surgery to rid herself of a non-cancerous tumor pushing against her brain stem.In the days before freshmen were at the high school campus, Fotiou became a nine-letter varsity athlete in her three years with the Thunder, shining in soccer, basketball, and softball. Meyer was the team’s basketball coach back then."She was my starting point guard for three years," said Meyer, proudly pointing out that in 1988, the Thunder won the district title and made it to state. "She was really steady for me, just a great kid in all the sports that she played. She was a steady contributor, all three years."This is a person who gave me a lot," Meyer added. "Now it’s my turn to give back to her."Fotiou, who moved to Texas three years ago, said she has not been feeling like herself for close to five years. At first, doctors told her it was sinus blockage. Then allergies. Yet nothing seemed to alleviate her pain. Then she started getting headaches, which would lead to spells of vomiting. In January, doctors found the tumor.Knowing the problem and fixing it are two separate issues, though. Fotiou does not have insurance, and her doctors will not schedule the surgery until she comes up with $20,000.That’s when her former teammates started talking, which led to getting in touch with their former coach, and now, the Mountain View Thunder of the late 1980s are back together again — in solidarity for one of their own."As coach and teammates, we decided we needed to do something for her," Meyer said.There is a Web site — donatetokat.blogspot.com — that tells Fotiou’s story and allows for donations. Meyer has organized a golf tournament to raise funds, too. The Benefit for Kat Golf Tournament is May 2 at Camas Meadows. The donate-to-kat Web site has all the details."If we get a full field, we can raise $15,000," Meyer said.While Meyer wishes the circumstances were different, she is thrilled to be back in touch with so many of her former players, students. And it’s not just the basketball team, not just the Class of 89. Meyer has heard from several years’ worth of Mountain View graduates, and donations, small and big, are coming in via the Web site.It has made her think of all those years as a coach, before she traded her whistle in for a computer to organize Heritage’s sports. Meyer was a head coach in volleyball for 18 years. She had the basketball job for six years. She had a golf job. Assisted in track and field. And also coached softball. This all happened in the days before girls sports boomed, back when old-school traditions were fighting with new-school attitudes. The female athletes of those years shared a sisterhood."I knew them all, and they knew me," Meyer said. "They just loved each other. I loved them, and they loved me. We worked together to build a championship and build a strong athletic program at Mountain View."That sisterhood is still strong. Sure, Fotiou now lives in Texas, but most of her support group remains in Vancouver. With the help of Web sites such as Facebook, it is easier to stay in touch nowadays."What is neat is the contact from former players I haven’t heard from in 15, 20 years," Meyer said. "They’re offering their help. We’re all one team."So this week, as Meyer sat at her desk, working the phones to make sure a bus would arrive to pick up a team, or to re-schedule a rainout, or any of the myriad things associated with an athletic coordinator’s job, she got to reflect on her former life. Which, in a way, never really went away."I’m still Coach, even though I’m sitting here," she said.And she still loves her job.Paul Valencia covers high school sports for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4557 or e-mail at paul.valencia@columbian.com
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