This summer, the Zuni Youth Enrichment Project brought together the community’s youngest athletes for a third annual season of T-ball and an exciting inaugural season of “mini-basketball.”
Not only did the leagues prove to be valuable learning experiences for the enthusiastic 4- and 5-year-old players, they also enriched the lives of 16 community coaches, who ranged in age from 17 to 63.
One of them was Lelie Lementino— a ZYEP youth sports alum who has now come full circle as a coach. Lelie remembers being just 7 or 8 years old when she laced up her sneakers to join the youth project’s annual basketball league for older kids.
“I had fun because I got along with the other kids and made friends,” says Lelie, now 21. “I played two seasons, and I’m still friends with some of those kids—and I still have a good relationship with the coaches all these years later.”
Those early seasons sparked a connection to sports, and to ZYEP, that never left her.
Lelie was born in Gallup, New Mexico, and raised in the Pueblo of Zuni. In high school, Lelie balanced volleyball and softball with dreams of becoming a nurse. When it came time for college, she chose Bethany College in Kansas—close to family and home, with a softball program she admired.
During her freshman year, a knee injury changed her path.
“I started working with a trainer and then a physical therapist,” she remembers. “They were so welcoming, and they made me feel seen and heard. I decided I wanted to do that. I wanted to help people like me.”
This past spring, Lelie graduated from Bethany College with a degree in exercise science and coaching administration. Then she came home to Zuni, ready to rest and regroup.
“School and sports really took a toll on my body,” she explains. “I want to get a [graduate level] degree in physical therapy, which would be a two-year program with two internships in a PT work environment, but I’ll start next spring instead of this fall.”
In the meantime, Lelie found herself reconnecting with the program that first nurtured her love of sports, and she embraced her new role as a ZYEP coach. Not only did she coach mini-basketball in July, she will return in September to help launch ZYEP’s annual flag football and soccer leagues.
“I’d always wanted to coach,” Lelie says. “It’s so much fun. In the beginning, the kids are shy and nervous, but by the end, they’re so open, hugging us and telling us everything! I love seeing them get more comfortable with each other, making new friends.
“It’s wonderful to create fun and safe spaces for them,” she added. “And ZYEP really brings all of us together. Players and families gather, happy to connect because they might not see each other often.”
Lelie still loves softball and hopes to continue playing the sport. She says she is currently exploring graduate programs that have offered her a scholarship to keep playing while furthering her education.
At the moment, when she’s not busy coaching at ZYEP, Lelie works at Big 5 Sporting Goods in Gallup, spends quality time with friends and family, and stays active at the gym. Someday, she hopes to live in New Mexico’s largest city, working at the UNM Hospital in Albuquerque.
For now, however, she’s looking forward to the fall sports season and engaging with a whole new group of kids.
“These leagues are important because a lot of sports aren’t offered at the elementary school level,” she says. “Through ZYEP, these kids get to have fun, be active, make new friends, and get ready for middle and high school sports.
“For any kid out there who might be thinking of joining one of the leagues, I would say, try it!” Lelie continues. “It doesn’t hurt to try, and I’m pretty sure you will like it because it’s ZYEP. They make everything fun.”
For Lelie, returning to ZYEP as a coach isn’t just about sports. It’s about mentoring Zuni youth and giving them the same joyful, welcoming start she experienced as a child—and passing that sense of belonging on to the next generation.