NRG to return to Española
After pandemic interruption, popular tournament shifts from Pojoaque Valley
The Northern Rio Grande Tournament will make its return to the hardwood next month in a familiar place.
After spending the previous 23 boys basketball tournaments (and the last 10 girls tournaments) in Pojoaque Valley’s Ben Luján Gymnasium, the conference moved the 2022 version to more familiar territory — Española Valley’s Edward Medina Gymnasium from Jan. 6-8.
The tournament, which has been a staple of Northern New Mexico boys basketball since 1947 and girls basketball since 1995, returns to its customary first-week of January spot after all tournaments were banned for the shortened spring season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The NRG played at Española Valley, either solely or in concert with Pojoaque, from 1989-98 and the town has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the tournament.
Española was the site of the first five tournaments and held it from 1972-86, with it changing hands from the old Española High School to Española Valley during that stretch.
Eric Vigil, the athletic director at Mesa Vista and the president of the eight-school Northern Rio Grande Conference, said committee members were looking at different venues after the 2020 tournament finished to see what other communities might offer. Among the sites the NRG inquired about were Pojoaque, Santa Fe Indian School, Northern New Mexico College and Española Valley.
The challenge with the tournament is that it traditionally has been at a neutral site on the boys side, meaning the conference had to work with individual schools to have access to their gym for the three-day event.
“We tried to get them to give us a bid for the tournament to see what they could offer us,” Vigil said. “I was going to go to the membership to decide what venue they wanted because all three are excellent. But Northern wasn’t able to accommodate us and Pojoaque already had dates set [for games that weekend]. Española had dates cleared and had established interest with hosting.”
Part of that was because of the role of former Española Valley AD Ira Harge in the discussions. He spent seven years as the head boys coach at Pecos and was a member of the NRG Hall of Fame prior to moving to Española, and he worked to ensure the boys and girls teams would be on the road for those dates.
When Matthew Abeyta took over as AD after Harge left for Escalante, Vigil said Abeyta was more than willing to continue what Harge started. Of
course, it helped that Abeyta and Vigil have a long-standing relationship that formed when the two coached football at McCurdy.
“He picked that up, and he’s taken off with it,” Vigil said.
However, there was concern about the viability of Medina after it suffered damage from an electrical fire Nov. 3 that destroyed the hanging scoreboard, speaker system and the middle of the court. NRG secretary Christian Lopez said board members weren’t sure if the gym would be usable and explored other options, including using Northern New Mexico’s Eagle Memorial Gymnasium and turning the tournament into a four-day event or moving the tournament to Dulce High School.
The concern, Lopez said, was finding a venue big enough to house the fans who will show up. If the tournament produced an attractive championship game, like a Pecos-Escalante final on the boys’ side, Lopez said a venue that could hold a few thousand fans was necessary.
“You’re going to get half of Northern New Mexico at that game,” Lopez said.
However, Lopez kept in close contact with administrators from Española Public Schools as it assessed the gym’s damage. Lopez admitted he had a more direct line to information, being that he is the district’s director of safety and security. When it became clear the gym was going to be operational in January, it alleviated those concerns.
Lopez said the high school is working out the kinks with regards to using large boards to show the score and time left in a game as well as providing enough spectator seating. When Española held its first home game Tuesday, most of the bleacher rows were not pulled out to provide space for the boards. There is discussion about pulling out the bleachers more to increase capacity, Lopez said, and using more boards and posting them around the gym floor and even in the hallway near the concession stands.
“It’s not going to be as perfect as we would like coming back to Española,” Lopez said. “But it will be good and we will be able to accommodate all eight teams, plus the crowds and fans.”
Peñasco head girls basketball coach Mandy Montoya said she is excited about the prospects of playing in Medina Gymnasium, because of the size of the gym (it can hold up to 4,000 people). She added playing in what many people consider the heart of Northern New Mexico basketball adds another layer of excitement to this year’s tournament.
“It is the mecca of Northern New Mexico basketball when you fill that place,” Montoya said.