Basin native selected for WCA Hall of Fame enshrinement

A Basin native credits her parents for passing along their love for sports and the lessons in perseverance she learned in high school for setting her on a path to induction in the Wyoming Coaches Association (WCA) Hall of Fame.
Wenett (Lyman) Martin, daughter of the late Nona and Wendell Lyman of Basin, stood out as a player for the Lady Rebels, earning player of the year honors, and went on to play college ball at Eastern Montana, which later became Montana State-Billings.
But her greatest contribution to the sport has come from the bench.  She coached at Wright from 1999 to 2016. The first five of those seasons, she coached junior high.  In 2004, the school tapped her to lead the high school program.
In the 20 years that followed —13 at Wright, followed by seven at Thunder Basin — she became  the Mrs. October of high school volleyball.   Seventeen times, she guided her teams to the state tourney.  Fifteen times, her teams placed.
She resigned last December, citing a desire to enjoy the final years of her daughter Piper’s high school career.  She is a standout in the sport, earning all-state honors as a freshman and a sophomore for the Bolts.

‘What now?’
When informed of her selection to the WCA Hall of Fame, Martin said she was ecstatic. “I honestly couldn’t breathe for a second and just kept thinking, ‘What now?’”   It got even better when she learned that the award would be presented by Kathy Hammer Smith, who has been a varsity official for more than 30 years.”
She’s come a long way from her days growing up in Basin, where she played volleyball and basketball and participated in track for the Lady Rebels, graduating in 1990. Of those years, she says, “As far as wins and losses, we won some and we lost some, but we never made it to state.
“I have great memories of the teams I played on and they taught me how to persevere when times were tough and how to work hard for my goals. Success isn’t just wins and losses, but also the things that stay with you throughout your life.”
Several influential people helped Martin on the road to enshrinement.
“My biggest influence was my mom, Nona Lyman,” she said. “She loved sports and even played at the college level at the University of Washington. She was someone who believed that if you want something, then you work hard to make those dreams come true.  
“I can remember my mom telling me, ‘If you want a helping hand, then you’d better look at the hand at the end of your arm because that is the only help you’ll get in life.’ Great advice for someone starting out as a coach because I find a lot of coaches do not want to share ideas or help new coaches.”
Her father, meanwhile, “always believed that I could do anything and encouraged me to never cower to anything that came my way. He, like my mother, loved sports and his favorite player was Ty Cobb because he competed at such a fierce level. My favorite players growing up were John Elway and Larry Bird, because they always found a way to win and never accepted losing but rather used losing as a motivation to improve and find a way to win.”
She also credited longtime Riverside coach Jim Gibbs. “He would talk coaching theories and ideas, ask questions about what I thought, and was the first person to get me to think about what my coaching philosophy would be,” said Martin.
And Glenn Hopkin, too.  “He was my first softball coach,” she said. “He asked me to play fast pitch and at first, I was a little unsure about playing.  But he was so encouraging and supportive. After some time, I did become a decent player. He is the reason I love the game and played it. I’m not sure I would have ever got involved in any sports without his encouragement that first year of fast pitch.”
Last but not least, she credits her husband — for supporting her through the tough times and the low points. “He is the first one to point out the good in a situation when I can’t see it,” she said. “He is the person who knows me best and knows how hard it is to coach. I am not sure I would have coached as long as I did if it wasn’t for my husband’s support.
Coaching  wisdom
With 20 years of head coaching experience, Martin was asked what advice she’d share with young coaches. “I  don’t know if there is a secret formula to it,” she said. “To be successful, you have to put in time, a lot of time, with kids in AAU and going to camps and putting on camps ... then there is the season and the whole process starts over.  
“The one thing I would encourage all coaches to do is host a camp where you invite a college coach to come to your gym.  Your kids get a better skills camp than if you took kids to a college for camp for a cheaper price and as a coach you can ask questions, learn new techniques, and get a person you can reach out to during season for help/advice.”
Martin said the highlight of her coaching career has been coaching her daughter. “To see her passing as a little, little kid (she was 4 years old) to today, it’s wonderful to see how far she has come. From Hall of Fame to placing 15 years out of 20 years of coaching, the greatest accomplishment I’ve had has been being a mom and I don’t regret saying this.  I have had amazing athletes, great player parents, the best colleagues to coach with, and my daughter is my greatest accomplishment. I am so excited to watch her play the next two years ...i t will be a great ride.”
The same can’t always be said about coaching.  It’s not “all fun times and smiles,” as she puts it.
“There are a lot of tears that go into 20 years of coaching,” she said. “I will miss the strategy and seeing girls improve, but I will not miss the lack of support that coaches get and I hope anyone reading this realizes that coaches are doing their best, the grass isn’t greener somewhere else, and (I hope they will) help coaches grow instead of fire coaches to get something better. There isn’t anything better out there.
“My first five years were not the best. In today’s society, I’m not sure I would have made 20 years, which would have been sad because I finished with 17 of 20 teams going to state and 15 of 20 teams that placed at state with seven teams in the state championship and four state championships. It could have been a career lost to finding greener pastures. Keep your coaches coaching and support them.”
Retirement
Several factors led to Martin’s decision to resign from Thunder Basin.  
“I am ready to take a break,” she said. “Although it’s been a great ride, my brother (Mike Galasso) dying (of a heart attack) on the day of the 2023 state championship just took a lot out of me.
“My dad passed away while I was at the state tournament too, back in 2010, but we knew it was coming on and I coached knowing that he could pass away.  With my brother, it was all of a sudden and a total shock.
“I thought we had years to still get together and that there was time. Life lesson: That’s not always the case.”
Martin hasn’t completely closed the door on a return to coaching, but says nothing is imminent.
“My next step is to see what it’s like to go home at 3:30 in the fall.  I have never done this in my whole teaching career and I think it could be nice to do at the start of the year. I am going to be a mom,” she said. “I have had the joy of watching my daughter play this spring and being a mom versus trying to coach other people’s children but ignoring my kid so people didn’t think I was favoring her.
“Being a mom and telling her how amazing she is or played has been the best.  I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to coaching ...  but I know that I am going to enjoy this time with my child.”