JuliAnn Martinez never met McCurdy Charter School Director Michele Lucci.
When she went in to meet Lucci for the first time, Sept. 11, the former McCurdy volleyball head coach did not make it as far as the director’s office, as she met with the Assistant Business Manager and Human Resources Manager Carrie Vigil.
When she sat down, Martinez noticed a picture on Vigil’s desk with the words “Team Lucci,” around it — the same photo sits on the desks of Lucci and Information Systems Specialist Amy Duran.
“If you’re not a part of ‘Team Lucci,’ then you’re not a part of the school,” Martinez said, her takeaway of the picture’s meaning.
Apparently, Martinez was not a member of “Team Lucci,” as she was fired in the same meeting, replaced by interim head coach Roberto DeVargas, who is also the McCurdy head baseball coach and was helping the volleyball team this season as an assistant.
“We just felt it was in the best interest of the school and the students,” Lucci said.
At the time of her firing, Martinez was coming off a 3-1 win against Taos High School. That victory included the bonus of defeating her volleyball coaching mentor Anita Rodriguez, who is now the head coach of Taos, after leaving McCurdy in 2015.
This season, Martinez was 3-2, and she was 10-8 last season, going 3-3 in district play.
Martinez does not know why she was fired, but said she received complaints for events that were out of her control.
For example, students and parents, alike, were unhappy with the location of the summer practices, as the McCurdy gym was undergoing renovations.
The Lady Bobcats ended up practicing in Northern New Mexico College’s gym, as well as the sand volleyball pits at Valdez Park.
Another incident involved her team manager being approached by a stranger, at gunpoint, while she was in her car on McCurdy Lane, adjacent to the football field. That happened after the game against Escalante High School, Aug. 31, Martinez said.
Martinez notes that the incident could have been avoided if McCurdy had a security guard on staff, which Lucci refuses to hire.
In general, Martinez could point to a few rough spots in the program this year, but she could not pinpoint any one event that would be considered a fireable offense.
The McCurdy employee handbook states that initial complaints should go to the coach, then the athletic director, before going to the dean and director. Martinez never had any such complaints.
Lucci was unable to offer any insight to Martinez’s firing.
“We don’t talk about other people publicly, since she’s not an employee,” she said. “She’s just a volunteer that we’re not using anymore.”
Athletic Director Christian Lopez couldn’t offer any information on Martinez’s firing, and had to refer all questions to Lucci on the matter.
Now interim head coach, DeVargas was also unable to get any answers.
He was surprised when he was offered the coaching job, as his primary experience in the sport has been his involvement around his daughter, Maria DeVargas, a senior member of the McCurdy volleyball team.
“They had called me up and asked me if I was interested in it, and I just told them, ‘Let me think about it,’” he said.
Martinez was fired at a time when volleyball coaches are in short supply in Rio Arriba County .
Escalante High School fired its volleyball coach at the beginning of the summer, and they still do not have a dedicated coach.
Roberto DeVargas is unsure whether he will opt to remain the permanent volleyball coach for the Lady Bobcats.
“I’ll see how it goes after this year, and I will let her (Lucci) know how I feel about it at the end of the year,” he said.