Wellington seventh-grader has skills and then some

March 18, 2009

By Brenda Rader Mross
The Wellington

Dribbling for audiences. Sarah Wallman has her bedroom decorated with basketball art. She performs with the High Country Dribblers. Photo by Brenda Rader Mross

When it comes to dribbling, even equally talented, more experienced basketball players are envious of Sarah Wallman’s ability to handle the ball. They’ll really be green once they hear this 12-year-old is getting close to mastering the art of dribbling four basketballs simultaneously.
Sarah, who lives in Wellington (Colorado), is part of High Country Dribblers, a northern Colorado performance club that dazzles audiences with its ball-handling prowess. The fact that participants range from 5 to 12 years of age continues to drop jaws along the Front Range.
"I first saw them at halftime of a Colorado Chill game when I was in fourth grade," recalled Sarah, now a seventh-grader at Kinard Junior High School. "I was jealous. I wanted to do it, too."
Later, the High Country Dribblers hosted a basic training camp at Traut Core Knowledge where Sarah attended elementary school, and she did a "mini-tryout" for owner Noel Wellborn.
"I did the spider dribble," Sarah said. "I was already on a couple of (club) basketball teams and knew how to do some stuff."
The spider dribble, in which the player’s arms simulate the movement of a spider, is a great training drill for ball control and hand speed.
"I could see right away Sarah had some skills," said Wellborn. "More important, she had the heart and desire."
Both coach and student use words like "passion" and "love" so often they create a convincing case for dribbling as an art form. Wellborn started High Country Dribblers 25 years ago when his daughter started playing basketball.
"I was a referee in Durango," explained Wellborn, who now lives in Johnstown. "I was frustrated with the ability of the girls to dribble the ball, so I started with my daughter and added five other girls with the goal to turn them into super basketball dribblers."
A month later, the group performed at Fort Lewis College. Four months after that, they found themselves at center court during halftime at a Denver Nuggets game. Wellborn’s outfit quickly grew to its present size of 26 kids, and has since appeared "all over," including Los Angeles at several Lakers’ games.
"That got to be kind of pricey," Wellborn admitted, "so we stay closer to home these days. It varies, but we do around 10 shows a year."
Their season runs from the end of November through the beginning of March and this year included stops at the Pepsi Center, Moby Arena, UNC’s Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion and various area middle and high schools. It costs $250 to join the club, whereas a three-day camp runs about $85, which includes a basketball and an award.
The High Country Dribblers practice together on Monday nights. Sarah said she dedicates at least 10 minutes a day to dribbling on the hard surface floor in the Wallmans’ basement. Even finding that kind of time is challenging since Sarah plays volleyball, soccer and basketball at Kinard, where she also serves as a manager for the boys’ basketball team. She participates in three seasons of club basketball, as well.
According to her dad, Elry, an accountant and teacher at the Institute of Business and Medical Careers, it seems as if Sarah has always had a basketball in her hands. "At least since she’s been able to walk, that’s for sure," he said.
Her mother, Carol, a nurse practitioner, recalled going for walks with Sarah when her daughter was in kindergarten, and "Sarah would bounce the ball the whole way."
Sarah remembers playing with the guys at recess. They had no problems with her shooting around with them because she was as good — or better, she said.
"Oh, I like girls," Sarah clarified. "I just don’t approve of their choices at recess."
Carol joked that her 5-foot-5-inch daughter has made a lot of money selling Barbie dolls at garage sales to buy more basketballs.
Sarah isn’t the only round ball lover in the house. In fact, she credits her older brother, Bryan, with the reason she started playing. Carol concurs, saying that it seems as if Sarah has always been trying to keep up with the 15-year-old Kinard freshman, who plays for Fossil Ridge High School.
And often succeeding, Sarah said, due to what she’s learned as a Dribbler.
"It helps so much in game situations," she said, "especially with pivots at the corners and crossovers."
Perhaps the biggest benefit, said Sarah, is increased confidence on and off the court. As a result, she now really enjoys being in the spotlight and even prefers individual routines. Sarah said she rarely gets nervous anymore, even when there are as many as 20,000 Nuggets’ fans scrutinizing her every move.
None of this surprises Wellborn, who said that while the High Country Dribblers are learning the fundamentals, in between techniques the program really teaches self-esteem.
"It didn’t really hit me until my daughter’s school principal said he wanted to talk to me," Wellborn said. "I thought I was in trouble, but he asked, ‘Do you realize you’re changing lives?’"
About Sarah in particular, Wellborn had only good things to say. "She’s very coachable; very polite and well-behaved. She’s dependable and well-disciplined. Sarah goes out of her way to please."
Sarah called Wellborn "a really good coach," and said he knows what he’s talking about.
"Somehow," she said, "he gets you to do things you didn’t think you could. Like, he challenged me and I got three balls down before he did."
Sarah demonstrated that the triple dribble is a bit like juggling in that the third ball is added after getting two capably going. Her mother compared the Dribblers’ dramatic lineups and star formations to "watching a marching band with basketballs."

The next High Country Dribblers clinic is in Longmont March 31 through April 2. Call 587-9474 for information.
Next year, Sarah hopes to assist Wellborn not only because she wants to be a physical education teacher, but because she really "wants them to get better than me."
Among her tips, "Have fun!"