Indian School’s Abeyta resigns
Christie Abeyta checked one item off her bucket list when she took the head girls basketball coaching job at Santa Fe Indian School.
She is off to check another box after resigning her position after three seasons and a 61-27 mark. Abeyta said she wants to pursue an administrative education license so that she can help further her teaching career.
“I would hope to lead a school someday in a greater capacity, whether it be a principalship or becoming a superintendent,” Abeyta said. “I always wanted to do more. In the classroom, you are able to influence and build relationships and help students grow and gain the skills they need for each level as they go through their high school career. I feel there is such a need for strong leadership at all schools.”
Abeyta will continue as a teacher at the school as she starts her work toward her next goal. Abeyta’s identity has been closely tied to the school, having literally grown up at SFIS. Her dad, legendary coach Francis L. Abeyta, oversaw baseball, basketball and football during his tenure at the school before he died from an aneurysm at 50, and Christie Abeyta was a constant figure by his side.
She was an assistant coach under
Cindy Roybal from 2010-12 and a part of a state championship team in 2011 and a runner-up in 2012. Christie Abeyta applied for the girls post in 2013 and ’14 before getting hired in ’15. In her three years, SFIS reached the Class 4A semifinals in 2015-16, and the quarterfinals last season as the Lady Braves went 25-5 and won their first district title in seven years.
Christie Abeyta said she was most proud of getting the program back to being a viable contender.
“It was important for me to establish myself and get the program to where it was,” Christie Abeyta said. “Then this year was an amazing year. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
In her last duty as coach, Christie Abeyta guided a team of seven players through its first summer camp at Hobbs over the weekend, and the team did not lose a game, although it played junior varsity teams from Class 4A and 5A schools. SFIS will be a 3A school next year as the state shrinks back to a five-classification system.
Christie Abeyta said it was hard for her not to cry because of the relationships she built with her players. Plus, she didn’t tell them about her decision until they were done with the camp.
“I’ve had this team basically for two years in a row now, and we’ve spent a lot of time together,” Abeyta said. “You do offseason, preseason and summer, and you get really attached to them. It was hard, very hard, for me to step away.”
While Christie Abeyta said she didn’t regret her time as head coach, she mentioned that coaching players and the profession itself is much more challenging than it was when her dad coached. As the club basketball scene exploded and players dedicated themselves to the sport almost year-round, she said she found herself spending more time coaching and training players, while seeing less of her family and friends.
“I found myself thinking about what was important to me because I’d always put the team in front of things that were important to me,” Christie Abeyta said. “My relationship, my family, my community and cultural stuff that always have been important to me always seemed to be put on the back burner more than I would like.
“For me, those are things that are significant in life, and that’s because I lost my dad when he was so young. Those are things that I cherish.”