Shadle Park Varsity Vet Digs Game Of Volleyball Coach Spotted Courtney Clary’s Talent As A Freshman

One of just three Shadle Park volleyball players ever to letter four years, Courtney Clary has seen it all.

In 1993 she was part of the Highlanders’ fifth state championship.

This year, Shadle Park is struggling just to make the Greater Spokane League playoffs.

Clary is at a loss to explain why.

“It’s so different,” she said, comparing this year to the previous three, when Shadle won 40 of 48 league games.

“We knew we were young, but being part of the Shadle program, I thought we would pull through.”

She has, however, remained philosophical.

To be on varsity four years “has been totally an honor,” she said. “It’s been so neat to be part of each team.

“Each was different in its own way. I’ve learned so much.”

Clary was one of two players in her freshman class with varsity potential, Coach Linda Sheridan said. The other was JoEne Heimbigner.

“I always try to decide where they should be placed in the program, if they need to be pushed by better kids or whether they need playing time,” Sheridan said. “My feeling with Courtney was she needed to be pushed.”

Sheridan believed that Heimbigner, a setter, would be better off getting playing time on junior varsity.

“Courtney was a pretty tenacious freshman,” Sheridan said. “She was vivacious and fit right in (with the varsity).”

Clary’s older brother, Aaron, preceded her at Shadle Park and was a star basketball player. He helped her develop athletically.

“Aaron was a real inspiration to me and always has been,” she said. “He would coach me and understood the pressures and how a game went.”

When she got to high school, her athleticism was not lost on the volleyball staff. She was given the choice of whether to play on varsity.

Clary chose to play backup outside hitter on varsity for two years.

“I knew I wouldn’t get playing time but that practice would make me better,” she said.

She also has played varsity on two state-qualifying basketball teams, a sport she took up three years before she first played volleyball.

“I prefer volleyball,” she said. “It’s so different and so much a momentum game.”

With each passing year her game time increased to the point where she is now one of the players her teammates look to for leadership.

“It’s been disappointing,” she said of Shadle’s 2-6 year, “because we know how good we are as a team. We’ve improved so much.”

The problem, said her coach, is not the Highlanders but the competition.

“The league is just dynamite,” said Sheridan. “Skillwise we’d be on top any other year.”

Clary sees college and volleyball in her future. But she knows she will miss Shadle Park when her athletic career there is over.

“I’m sure I’ll be ready to go in June, but this has been the most wonderful experience,” she said. “Being a senior has been the best year so far. There’s so much spirit and pride.

“The people are great, the teachers are great, and everything has been fun.”

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