Comes from a big sports family

The Denetclaw family has a history of playing a number of sports, from baseball and softball to wrestling to volleyball. This love of sports has resulted in a remarkable opportunity for one of the family’s children.

Jalen Denetclaw, born and raised in Gallup, will be a freshman at Gallup High School this fall. Before then, he will travel to Viera, Fla. to play on the United States Specialty Sports Association Midwest Region All American Baseball team July 28 - Aug. 3.

The USSSA All American Baseball program was created to be an environment where athletes are evaluated by the top players and coaches in baseball based on their skill levels and athleticism, according to the USSSA website.

When Jalen’s family found out he had made the USSSA Midwest Region All American Baseball team, they were in awe and disbelief.

“We couldn’t have been more proud of him at that moment,” Casey, his mother, said. “We’re just proud of all the hard work he’s done.”

GETTING INTO THE SPORT

Jalen said it was his father, Jay, who got him into baseball by teaching him to play when he was young.

“He taught me how to hit, how to throw since I could pick up the ball,” Jalen said. “I’ve loved it ever since, and I want to keep playing as long as I can. He’s been coaching me all my life, teaching me drills, how to do this and that. He made me love the sport,” he added.

Jalen said he wants to get into a college with a good baseball program and then take his playing to a higher level.

Casey said she played softball while Jay played baseball, and Jalen’s aunt, uncle, and grandfather all played, as well. All those family athletes kept  Jalen and his siblings around the baseball field ever since they started playing tee ball.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Jalen said it was his mother who told him about the USSSA All American tryouts several weeks before they began June 6. The cost for trying out was $300, which felt daunting to Jalen, at the time.

“If I didn’t make the team, I didn’t want to waste the money,” Jalen said. “I thought about it for  a while, thinking I’ll really do it and then I won’t do it.”

Then one day, Jalen decided to commit to the tryout. His parents spent the money and during the tryouts, Jalen, who plays all infield, was evaluated on throwing across the field, a live batting practice, and sprinting 60 yards.

The USSSA website states participants in tryouts are evaluated on hitting, running, throwing, fielding, pitching or catching depending on their position.

THE REACTIONS

“We’re a really big sports family,” Jalen said, mentioning several cousins who went to college to play sports.

When he told his family he had made the All American team, he said he got a great response. “They were proud of me.”

Jalen also recalled playing when he was 10, which he said was his best year of playing. He credits his success to his coach that year, Ben Chavez.

“He helped me a lot,” Jalen said.

Casey said Jalen’s time and effort paid off, and this accomplishment reflects how he carries himself.

“He’s really humble. He has a good head on his shoulders,” she said.

Despite the reaction he had to Jalen making the All American team, his father, Jay, knows this is just the beginning of a big opportunity.

“He’s got to put in more work. He’s always doing more,” Jay said.

Jay also spoke about how Gallup and surrounding communities are more focused on basketball throughout the year, and baseball is considered one of the smaller sports. He said the environment is different than it is in states like Texas and Oklahoma, where the crowds are more involved and engaged with the sport than around Gallup.

His father says that makes Jalen’s accomplishment even more impressive. “[Baseball players] are a different breed out there, so we were surprised and proud he made it.”

Jalen Denetclaw’s family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with fundraising for the trip to Viera, Fla. to play.

For more information, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/all-american-baseball-player?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet.

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent

Shots were fired at Red Rock Park during the Gallup InterTribal Ceremonial celebration.

Law enforcement officers arrived at the scene during the evening of Aug. 11 after reports came in about shots being fired in the area. The Navajo Police and the McKinley County Sheriff's Deputies detained two suspects at a nearby residence. No injuries have been reported.

The Navajo Police later confirmed that the incident involved two individuals that reportedly shot a firearm over 1/4 mile west of the park on tribal land.

Based on evidence found at the scene, the individuals were target shooting on their property. The Navajo Police are investigating whether that activity was lawful or not.

Deputies were reportedly already at the west end of the park when the shooting occurred, and they suspected the shots were coming from outside the park.

The Gallup Intertribal Indian Ceremonial events that were scheduled for the rest of the night were canceled, but the Aug. 12 events went on as planned.

This is an ongoing investigation, and more information will be released as it becomes available.

TDFL competing for the Four Corners Youth Football Championships

It’s summer and the next leg of Gallup youth sports is about to begin. Kids from across Gallup and neighboring communities like Zuni and Window Rock will soon get to play in local leagues for football and soccer.

The City of Gallup Sports Commission discussed the schedules for the upcoming Gallup Soccer League and Tony Dorsett Touchdown Football League seasons during its July 10 regular meeting.

TDFL LEAGUE

Commissioner Theodore “Bobo” Saucedo spoke about the TDFL schedule. Practice will start in August, and the season proper will begin in September.

“We are waiting for the baseball season to end so we can get more registrations [for the league],” Saucedo said.

Saucedo said in addition to Gallup, Grants, and Thoreau, teams from Zuni and Window Rock will be coming into TDFL this year.

Teams in the league will compete to make it to the Tenth Annual Four Corners Youth Football Championships on Oct. 26-27, which Saucedo said is the second biggest football tournament in New Mexico.

“We had 44 teams last year, and we’re hoping to get more this year,” he said.

GALLUP SOCCER LEAGUE

Commissioner Kurt Spolar said there are currently 430 kids participating in Gallup Soccer League, with up to 540 if Zuni and Window Rock kids are included.

He said Gallup could see up to 700 participants after the baseball season ends.

Spolar said the soccer league could start to lose kids once the basketball season starts, which is why he wants games to start about Aug. 1. He wants players to get in a full 10 weeks of games.

The soccer league will use the four fields at Ford Canyon Park and the three fields at Gallup Sports Complex on Fridays and Saturdays for both practice and games, Spolar said.

He said the soccer league can start practice at Ford Canyon once the baseball season ends.

MUTUAL CONCERNS

Some of the fields used for practice and games have matters that need to be tended to before the kids start to use them, Spolar said.

“There’s some maintenance issues and safety concerns, weeds coming from the runoff,” Spolar said. “We want to get them cleaned up [before the season starts.]”

Vince Alonzo, Gallup Parks Director, said the city has received a lot of complaints within the parks systems, and attributes them to being short-handed.

“The staff just can’t keep up because there’s too much going on,” he said, citing parks events like summer rodeos. “We’re having a hard time keeping our heads above water. But we have to get through it.”

To that end, Spolar suggested urging people who come to the parks to clean up after themselves, which would in turn allow the parks staff to tend to larger challenges.

In addition, Alonzo said with two leagues operating at the same time they will likely have to share the fields for practice and games. That means they will have to coordinate to make sure both leagues get fair use of the fields.

Both Spolar and Saucedo were open to negotiating.

“We don’t mind sharing the fields,” Spolar said. “We’ll make it work.”

Saucedo said this is an issue that will be brought up during a coaches meeting July 15 at Sammy C’s Rock N’ Sports Pub & Grille.

Another issue to be discussed at the meeting will be how much play time the kids get on the field.

“We will stress this year that all the kids have to participate, because they are paying to play,” Saucedo said.

The third big issue for the coaches meeting is making sure the coaches will accept working under the TDFL label.

“The big thing is always coaching,” Commissioner Ben Chavez said. “We have to make sure they all meet the state requirements.”

Saucedo said that in addition to an application to be a coach for the league, the applicant will have to pass two background checks: one from McKinley County Sheriff’s Department, and one from the City of Gallup.

The deadline for the coaching application is July 13, so that coaches can all be registered and attend the July 15 meeting at Sammy C’s, he added.

Another coaching issue to address is putting coaches in line should they be removed from the game as a result of misconduct.

Chavez said issues with coaches first emerge when they get angry with the officials calling the game. This year the league is implementing a rule wherein the coaches will have to act as officials and call the game themselves if they are ejected.

This is so the coaches can see what they are unhappy about, and be able to identify what may be going wrong from the officials’ point of view, he added.

“This rule could help them realize what’s going on,” Chavez said. “We’re hoping it’ll be a good idea.”

In addition, there will be more meetings down the road to ensure certification for the leagues, Saucedo said. The leagues will have to stay certified or else they will not be eligible for playoff games.

“This could be tough, but we’re going to work on that plan,” Saucedo said.

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent

Adams, Muñoz, Johnson engaged in District 4 state Senate race

Kurtis Donisthorpe, the assistant district attorney in San Juan County, told Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, in an April 5 memorandum that “…the Office of the District Attorney has received your request for an investigation regarding potential voter fraud. At this time, our office will begin our investigation into the authenticity of the signatures and upon finding good cause will ask the McKinley County Clerk’s Office to make a determination regarding the signatures’ authenticity. If they are determined to be false, we will ask law enforcement to begin a criminal investigation. If probable cause exists to charge a person of a violation, we will do so.”

Donisthorpe’s correspondence comes about three weeks after Muñoz sent an initial heads-up letter to the district attorneys of McKinley, Cibola and San Juan counties. In that letter, Muñoz called at least 26 signatures on a petition form submitted by challenger and political newcomer Felisha Adams to the New Mexico Secretary of State “questionable.”

A private investigator was subsequently hired by Muñoz to further look into the situation. Candidates running for Senate in New Mexico are required to submit 135 signatures to the Secretary of State.

“Honesty and integrity and fairness are necessary when running for an elected office,” Muñoz told the Gallup Sun this week. “I think that is important.”
Muñoz said one of the signatures on Adams’ list appeared to be way out of the ordinary. He said it was done by a mentally challenged person who has a caretaker. He did not provide the name of the signee nor caretaker in question.

Muñoz, Adams and Jordan Johnson of Vanderwagen are running for the New Mexico District 4 seat, which Munoz, the son of a former Gallup mayor, has held since 2009. The district includes McKinley and Cibola counties.

Donisthorpe copied Secretary of State Brad Winter, Attorney General Hector Balderas, McKinley County District Attorney Karl Gilson, Cibola County District Attorney Lemuel Martinez, Farmington District Attorney Robert Tedrow, San Juan County Clerk Debbie Holmes and McKinley County Clerk Harriett Becenti in the two-page correspondence.

Adams, of Iynabito, a senior business and economics student at Diné College, has called the questionable petition allegations by Muñoz “a swing for no apparent reason.” She has said that she has amassed more than 500 petition signatures.

She said April 26 that Donisthorpe called her about a week ago and drilled her about the names on the petition list. She also said she has heard from people in the community that the state police have been going door-to-door throughout the district in an attempt to match signatures.

“I think he’s trying to intimidate me and the voters,” Adams, 29, said of Muñoz. “Intimidation is not the right thing to do. This is clearly a case of voter intimidation.”

A state primary is set for June 7 and the general election is Nov. 8.

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent