A costly loss to COVID
Kimberly Martinez coached basketball at Pojoaque Valley High
Even as hope surges with COVID-19 vaccines ever-soslowly making their way to New Mexico residents, and athletes across the state hankering for a return to their various endeavors, the vicious virus continues its deadly course.
One of its latest victims was Pojoaque Valley assistant girls basketball coach Kimberly Martinez.
Martinez, 39, succumbed to the virus Jan. 6.
A five-year letter winner in basketball at McCurdy, Martinez was a New Mexico State graduate who was working at Los Alamos National Labs.
Elkettes coach Seledon Martinez, no relation, said he first met the budding point guard when she was a fourth-grader and he was coaching basketball in Chimayó.
“We’ve been together most of her life,” he said, as he was also the Bobcats coach during her time at McCurdy. “We coached AAU together, we coached softball. She was one of the first ones that I wanted to get on board when I got the job at Pojoaque.”
The two had such similar coaching philosophies that Seledon Martinez said it was almost eerie.
“She used to say that she knew me better than what I did myself,” he said. “And it’s true. She knew what I wanted at the same time I knew that I wanted it.”
Although height challenged, Kimberly Martinez had such a strong instinct for the game that she was able to control the Bobcats offense with aplomb.
“If she had been five or six inches taller, she could have played D-I,” Seledon Martinez said. “That’s how good she was.”
Occasionally, she had to
prove her prowess on the court against the Elkettes, as well, he said.
“She could still play,” he said. “She’d get right in there. At times, we’d scrimmage, and she would get in there and show them … the type of effort that was needed.”
But she was also the coach the players turned to when something was needed.
“Her strengths were she got along really well with the kids,” Seledon Martinez said. “She’d bring things down to their level and be able to explain what we’re looking for. She broke it down to nuts and bolts, and showed them all the pieces.”
His daughter, Rhonda Evenhus, said she essentially grew up on the basketball courts and softball fields of northern New Mexico with Kimberly Martinez.
“She has essentially been my point guard since
she was in fourth grade,” Evenhus said. “My dad started coaching in my sixthgrade year and she was in fourth grade, and she was the starting point guard at that time. She was relentless. She was very smart. She had an incredible intuitiveness. A nose for the ball. She understood very early the role of the point guard wasn’t to be the leading scorer, it was to take care of the ball, distribute the ball and make sure she carried through whatever it was the coach wanted.”
Kimberly Martinez’ daughter Kaylee Martinez, was an eighth-grader for the Elkettes last season and was showing many of the same attributes that made her mom such a strong player.
“She’s been running crosscountry, playing softball and basketball,” Seledon Martinez said. “She’s more of
a wing, but she’s hard-nosed. She has the same traits her mom had. Never say never and never say die.”
Kaylee was Kimberly Martinez’ shining light, Evenhus said.
“Her daughter Kaylee was her entire universe,” she said. “She poured her heart and soul into her daughter. She never missed anything. She worked tirelessly for everything Kaylee was able to experience. She wanted to support her every step of the way. There’s nothing Kim wouldn’t do for her daughter.”
It’s a loss not just for the family and friends, but also the entire community, Evenhus said.
“Kim really touched a whole lot of lives,” she said. “And she was going to touch a whole lot more.”