WORDEN — Iona Stookey was a frustrated 22-year-old.
She was in her fourth season as a head volleyball coach — yes, fourth, at age 22 — but it was her first season at Huntley Project. After the first day of practice, Stookey vented to her mother, Joann, who had talked Stookey into interviewing for and accepting the Project job after three successful seasons at Shepherd.
But now Stookey, at her new job, was starting all over with a group of players who didn’t seem to have the volleyball knowledge Stookey was used to.
“I was throwing a fit,” Stookey said. “And finally, my mom’s like, ‘Are you done? You need to teach them like they’re in kindergarten.’
“So, I quit pouting, and the next practice it was like, ‘this is how you pass the volleyball.’ I mean, we started there. And fortunately, I don’t know how, we made it to state those first two years.”
Joann was her daughter’s biggest fan. But Joann’s lesson to Stookey that day was essentially “coach them up.” Joann passed away in 2016, and her lesson is one Stookey has never forgotten, nor eased up on. The better Stookey is, and the more she learns about the game, the better her program will be.
Those first two trips to the state tournament didn’t turn out to be tone-setters for the program, however. The Red Devils went two-and-out in 1990 and finished third in 1991, and a dry patch followed.
Project missed out on state for the next eight seasons. That sounds stunning when put up against the known Red Devils’ success: Under Stookey, Huntley Project has won 15 Class B state championships, a state record. Stookey has won 960 matches as the Red Devils coach while losing just 177, an .844 career winning percentage. (Stookey was 71-27 in three seasons at Shepherd, where she first took the head job at age 19 while still playing at Eastern Montana College, for a career total of 1,031-204).
Those 15 titles have come in the past 21 seasons. The Red Devils have qualified for state each of the past 24 seasons, placing first, second or third 23 times.
During that state-tournament drought, which lasted from the 1992 season through 1999, Stookey sought the advice of Billings Senior’s Jeff Carroll, who was building a program that was on its way to 12 Class AA championships. She also monitored how Laurie Kelly turned neighboring Roundup into a Class B championship program as the Panthers began a run of five titles in six seasons starting in 1998. Stookey felt she knew the technical part of the game well enough, but what were the little things she was missing?
“I think I learned that I needed to get a little more knowledgeable about the game,” said Stookey, who played two seasons at Billings West and began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Billings Central as a freshman at EMC. “I still go to clinics all the time. I'm always taking notes, and I just spent three days at the coaches’ clinic in Great Falls. I was a speaker, yes, but I also thrive on getting different information. And I just remember that was a time where I was like, hey, if I'm going to be serious about this, if I want to get back to state again, I’ve got to figure it out.”
Figuring it out meant having her players better prepared than their opponents. Stookey’s biggest fear is leaving her team unprepared for a match. The players should not be surprised by anything they see on the court, she said.
The best way to do that, of course, is through film. Study lots and lots of film. Early in her career, it wasn’t that easy since recordings of sporting events weren’t everyday occurrences. Eventually, technology made it more convenient, and now, with the live streaming and archiving of most every match, Stookey can instantly access just about anything she wants.
But it isn’t just about the availability of game films. It’s the amount of time Stookey puts into it.
On road trips, she begins breaking down video soon after she gets on the team bus. No matter where she watches film, though, she usually views each match four times, taking a focused look each time.
The first time through she concentrates on her team’s offense. Defense is the focus of the second viewing. The third time is specifically looking for mistakes, and then, if she still has time and enough coffee to keep her going, the final viewing is “for fun.”
Stookey also uses still media photographs or photos that parents have taken to visually show players good or bad form and to illustrate when they may be out of position during a particular sequence. Screen shots from film work for that, too.
Despite her reliance on film, she doesn’t make her players watch much.
“If you can get them off their phone for two hours, forget about Snapchat, forget about their Snap streak, Instagram, all that kind of stuff, and you can work them hard for two hours, I think you're going to get a lot done,” Stookey said. “But if you ask them to practice for two hours, then we're going to watch film for an hour, and then we're … you know? So, what I tell them is, this film is up if you want to watch it. But they know also that I'm going to watch it (for them).”
Rarely blessed with team height of any significance, Stookey realized early on that having quality setters and a never-let-the-ball-drop defense would be keystones of her program.
And she would be uncompromising. Stookey described her coaching style as cut and dried. She tells her players what she expects of them, that they’ll have to work hard, nothing is going to be given to them. She also tells them she’ll put the best six players on the floor, regardless of grade.
Cady (Siemion) Lachner, who was a part of three state championship teams and a runner-up playing for Huntley Project, said Stookey’s up-front approach can be intimidating. But Lachner, who is taking over for her sister Stormy as the head coach at Billings Skyview this season in her first head coaching gig, said Stookey’s passion for volleyball and for her players was always felt.
“A lot of coaches don't do it for the money, they do it because they care for the kids,” said Lachner, who had more than 1,000 career digs at Montana Western. “And I feel like that's something Iona does. She just is so passionate about the game of volleyball and all of the kids that she touches. I know she stays in contact with her past players because she congratulated me on becoming a new head coach and all of those things. So, I think she just really loves it. And I don't know how she does it.”
This year marks Stookey’s 39th year in coaching and her 35th as a physical education teacher. Her coaching success has given her opportunities to coach at higher levels, including Class AA and college, she said. But Stookey said she’s never imagined herself leaving Huntley Project, for a variety of reasons.
The question is, how much longer will she do it? It’s a question she’s asked a lot, she said.
“I really don’t have an answer, other than it’s still pretty fun,” said Stookey, who was selected as the National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Coach of the Year in June. “I know this … when I'm done, I'm done with both (coaching and teaching). I'm not going to do one and not the other, whichever way it is. I just like all the interactions with the kids.”
As the Red Devils look to defend a third straight title this season, they find themselves in a unique spot, at least for the program. The Red Devils had six seniors last season, one of their largest graduating classes.
Stookey is comfortable with the returning talent she has. She said her junior varsity program has been “pretty darn good the past couple of years.” But Stookey knows her team is inexperienced, so there are a lot of unknowns in her mind. Good thing, then, that the Red Devils open their season at a tournament in Columbus on Aug. 31
Several matches in a day means plenty of film to watch before facing Red Lodge three days later.
Get the coffee brewing.
