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Jul. 22—A couple of weeks ago, a representative from the Big Sky Conference reached out to Pam Parks to prepare her for this Saturday's event at Northern Quest Resort & Casino, when Parks will be formally inducted into the league's Hall of Fame.
That prompted Parks, now 74, to reflect on her career in athletics, nearly all of it spent at Eastern Washington University..
"I am very honored, but I really go, 'why'?" Parks said last week. "I wasn't that successful."
But, Parks conceded, she did go into administration, coach volleyball at two Big Sky schools and experience success, so she does "kind of get it."
Others, though, are more convinced.
"She is a transformational leader," said Andrea Zacher Zaman, who played for Parks and still lives in Spokane. "She instilled a conviction that we're strong, we're capable, and we're destined to succeed, and you can't really do that unless you root yourself somewhere.
"She was — she is — committed to this community."
Parks is one of eight people who will join the Big Sky Hall of Fame on Saturday. The others are: football coach Dennis Erickson (Idaho and Montana State), track and field athlete Jackie Ross Mattox (Idaho), football player Frank Hawkins (Nevada), cross country and track and field coach Eric Heins (Northern Arizona), cross country and track and field athlete Amber Henry (Weber State), basketball player Michael Ray Richardson (Montana) and basketball player Willie Sojourner (Weber State).
Since honoring its first class in 2022, the Big Sky Hall of Fame has grown to 54 members, including three others from Eastern Washington. Quarterback Erik Meyer was inducted in 2024. Offensive lineman Michael Roos and volleyball player Kim Exner were both inducted in 2023.
"The Big Sky in and of itself is such a special, special conference," Exner said this week. "I've been ingrained in it. For me, that (Hall of Fame induction) night, and seeing the faces that have been a part of my journey for so long ... It was such a family feeling."
Parks, who coached Exner during both of Exner's Big Sky Player of the Year seasons in 1998 and 1999, should have a significant support section Saturday, too.
"She's been a lifelong friend, and not just with me but so many of her players," said Juli Argotow-Jones, a former EWU volleyball player. "People having their first babies, getting married, getting sick, succeeding — she'll be the first one there. She's been highly influential."
'The fiercest competitor'
Parks said she was fortunate that as a female in the 1950s and 1960s she even had the chance to play sports in high school. She lived in Oregon for part of that, then moved to Oakesdale, where they had girls basketball, badminton, volleyball and track and field.
That spurred her interest in pursuing athletics in college. When she got to Eastern Washington, she tried out for the volleyball team — and got cut.
"There were 80 girls that tried out for the team," Parks said. "I had instincts, but I didn't have technique. I served with a fist then because that's what we did at Oakesdale. I was very upset."
Over the decades that followed, Parks earned a reputation among her players as a warm but competitive person. It's part of what made her so unique, Exner said.
Exner recounted a practice game the team would play called "rage against the machine." Whenever they played, Exner said, Parks "would jump on the court to find a sneaky way to win."
"Pam is this little package of a warm human being, but I think what a lot of people don't know that we got to learn is that she's probably the fiercest competitor I've ever met," Exner said. "And that's not just volleyball. That's cribbage. That's driving. That's gambling."
Back in college, Parks channeled that competitive fire and made the team as a sophomore. A few years later, she was coaching Eastern Washington's volleyball team, from 1976 to 1979. But then the athletics department restructured, combining the volleyball coaching position with an administrative role, too, and Parks said she wasn't interested in that.
So, she ended up at Sandpoint High School, where she led the Bulldogs to a 65-10 record across three seasons and an Idaho state championship in 1980.
"The gym was packed every game," Parks said. "It was so much fun."
Parks became the head coach for one season at Montana State — the only other Big Sky program she worked for — in 1983. The Bobcats went 19-19 overall and 10-4 in the Big Sky.
An opportunity to return to Eastern surfaced in 1985, and Parks seized it. She remained as head volleyball coach for 15 seasons, leading the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament three times. They finished with at least 20 victories six times, and over that span the Eagles went 243-214.
Parks was named Big Sky Coach of the Year in 1989, when Eastern went 25-7 and won the Big Sky championship. That team — as well as Parks herself — are in the Eastern Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame. Argotow-Jones, one of many Canadians that Parks recruited, was named Big Sky MVP that season.
"Pam was young and you could tell she was passionate about the sport and what she did," Argotow-Jones said. "People didn't come down here when I played."
Parks made the best of road trips, Argotow-Jones said, with the team packed into a 15-passenger van. They dressed up for Halloween when they were travelling and played flag football on their days off. On a road trip to Hawaii, Parks was snorkeling along with the players.
That Parks stayed at Eastern for so long — first as a coach and then as an administrator — is a significant reason why she has continued to impact so many lives, said Argotow-Jones, who is now a volleyball referee and serves on the board of directors for the Spokane Area Volleyball Referees Association.
"When she says, 'once an Eagle, always an Eagle,' that rings true," Argotow-Jones said. "... I think there is a lot to be said for a coach who stays and is grounded and is OK with that."
A legacy of growing strong, confident women
Parks said she was ready to step down following the 1999 season and shift into a role in administration. She relished it, what with all the coaches — for every sport — still in the same building: more opportunities to talk coaching.
Even when she retired from EWU athletics in 2018, she continued to be involved in volleyball, especially in the club volleyball scene, in which Parks and Irene Matlock, her wife, have been instrumental. Zaman, one of Parks' former players, estimated that Parks has impacted "thousands" of athletes through club volleyball.
And, Parks has continued to keep up with her former players.
"Pam is a huge influence in my life. There is no question," Zaman said. "When you have somebody as strong and confident as Pam is, her entire legacy was building strong, confident women, and it shows. ... She understands that if you can work as a team, then you can do anything. That transcends into your personal lives."
Parks also still attends Eastern volleyball games — up in the stands, far from the bench, Parks said — and has been a help to Jon Haruguchi, the Eagles' current head volleyball coach who called Parks "a straight shooter."
Haruguchi said Parks will text him off and on about players he has signed, and it's clear she's watched film of them already. She's also spoken to the team on various occasions.
"As much as she wants to be retired, I think it's hardwired into her," Haruguchi said. "She's been really great to have around."
Parks is keeping active in retirement. She and Matlock just got back from a trip to France and Portugal, and even though Parks never had children of her own she has nieces and nephews in the Spokane area. They have children of their own, and Parks frequently attends their games and events.
"That keeps us going throughout the year, and we go as great aunts," Parks said.
Parks said she knows that many former players are planning to attend the banquet on Saturday and that there is a sense of pride in being part of their lives. She compared her role off the court to a role she played on the court.
"I was a setter. I always set up the big hitters when I played the game, and I look at it that way," she said. "I gave them a bit of a platform. They gave me everything. Their parents entrusted me with them, and I was so lucky to have them so close for four years. It was really, really special."
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That prompted Parks, now 74, to reflect on her career in athletics, nearly all of it spent at Eastern Washington University..
"I am very honored, but I really go, 'why'?" Parks said last week. "I wasn't that successful."
But, Parks conceded, she did go into administration, coach volleyball at two Big Sky schools and experience success, so she does "kind of get it."
Others, though, are more convinced.
"She is a transformational leader," said Andrea Zacher Zaman, who played for Parks and still lives in Spokane. "She instilled a conviction that we're strong, we're capable, and we're destined to succeed, and you can't really do that unless you root yourself somewhere.
"She was — she is — committed to this community."
Parks is one of eight people who will join the Big Sky Hall of Fame on Saturday. The others are: football coach Dennis Erickson (Idaho and Montana State), track and field athlete Jackie Ross Mattox (Idaho), football player Frank Hawkins (Nevada), cross country and track and field coach Eric Heins (Northern Arizona), cross country and track and field athlete Amber Henry (Weber State), basketball player Michael Ray Richardson (Montana) and basketball player Willie Sojourner (Weber State).
Since honoring its first class in 2022, the Big Sky Hall of Fame has grown to 54 members, including three others from Eastern Washington. Quarterback Erik Meyer was inducted in 2024. Offensive lineman Michael Roos and volleyball player Kim Exner were both inducted in 2023.
"The Big Sky in and of itself is such a special, special conference," Exner said this week. "I've been ingrained in it. For me, that (Hall of Fame induction) night, and seeing the faces that have been a part of my journey for so long ... It was such a family feeling."
Parks, who coached Exner during both of Exner's Big Sky Player of the Year seasons in 1998 and 1999, should have a significant support section Saturday, too.
"She's been a lifelong friend, and not just with me but so many of her players," said Juli Argotow-Jones, a former EWU volleyball player. "People having their first babies, getting married, getting sick, succeeding — she'll be the first one there. She's been highly influential."
'The fiercest competitor'
Parks said she was fortunate that as a female in the 1950s and 1960s she even had the chance to play sports in high school. She lived in Oregon for part of that, then moved to Oakesdale, where they had girls basketball, badminton, volleyball and track and field.
That spurred her interest in pursuing athletics in college. When she got to Eastern Washington, she tried out for the volleyball team — and got cut.
"There were 80 girls that tried out for the team," Parks said. "I had instincts, but I didn't have technique. I served with a fist then because that's what we did at Oakesdale. I was very upset."
Over the decades that followed, Parks earned a reputation among her players as a warm but competitive person. It's part of what made her so unique, Exner said.
Exner recounted a practice game the team would play called "rage against the machine." Whenever they played, Exner said, Parks "would jump on the court to find a sneaky way to win."
"Pam is this little package of a warm human being, but I think what a lot of people don't know that we got to learn is that she's probably the fiercest competitor I've ever met," Exner said. "And that's not just volleyball. That's cribbage. That's driving. That's gambling."
Back in college, Parks channeled that competitive fire and made the team as a sophomore. A few years later, she was coaching Eastern Washington's volleyball team, from 1976 to 1979. But then the athletics department restructured, combining the volleyball coaching position with an administrative role, too, and Parks said she wasn't interested in that.
So, she ended up at Sandpoint High School, where she led the Bulldogs to a 65-10 record across three seasons and an Idaho state championship in 1980.
"The gym was packed every game," Parks said. "It was so much fun."
Parks became the head coach for one season at Montana State — the only other Big Sky program she worked for — in 1983. The Bobcats went 19-19 overall and 10-4 in the Big Sky.
An opportunity to return to Eastern surfaced in 1985, and Parks seized it. She remained as head volleyball coach for 15 seasons, leading the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament three times. They finished with at least 20 victories six times, and over that span the Eagles went 243-214.
Parks was named Big Sky Coach of the Year in 1989, when Eastern went 25-7 and won the Big Sky championship. That team — as well as Parks herself — are in the Eastern Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame. Argotow-Jones, one of many Canadians that Parks recruited, was named Big Sky MVP that season.
"Pam was young and you could tell she was passionate about the sport and what she did," Argotow-Jones said. "People didn't come down here when I played."
Parks made the best of road trips, Argotow-Jones said, with the team packed into a 15-passenger van. They dressed up for Halloween when they were travelling and played flag football on their days off. On a road trip to Hawaii, Parks was snorkeling along with the players.
That Parks stayed at Eastern for so long — first as a coach and then as an administrator — is a significant reason why she has continued to impact so many lives, said Argotow-Jones, who is now a volleyball referee and serves on the board of directors for the Spokane Area Volleyball Referees Association.
"When she says, 'once an Eagle, always an Eagle,' that rings true," Argotow-Jones said. "... I think there is a lot to be said for a coach who stays and is grounded and is OK with that."
A legacy of growing strong, confident women
Parks said she was ready to step down following the 1999 season and shift into a role in administration. She relished it, what with all the coaches — for every sport — still in the same building: more opportunities to talk coaching.
Even when she retired from EWU athletics in 2018, she continued to be involved in volleyball, especially in the club volleyball scene, in which Parks and Irene Matlock, her wife, have been instrumental. Zaman, one of Parks' former players, estimated that Parks has impacted "thousands" of athletes through club volleyball.
And, Parks has continued to keep up with her former players.
"Pam is a huge influence in my life. There is no question," Zaman said. "When you have somebody as strong and confident as Pam is, her entire legacy was building strong, confident women, and it shows. ... She understands that if you can work as a team, then you can do anything. That transcends into your personal lives."
Parks also still attends Eastern volleyball games — up in the stands, far from the bench, Parks said — and has been a help to Jon Haruguchi, the Eagles' current head volleyball coach who called Parks "a straight shooter."
Haruguchi said Parks will text him off and on about players he has signed, and it's clear she's watched film of them already. She's also spoken to the team on various occasions.
"As much as she wants to be retired, I think it's hardwired into her," Haruguchi said. "She's been really great to have around."
Parks is keeping active in retirement. She and Matlock just got back from a trip to France and Portugal, and even though Parks never had children of her own she has nieces and nephews in the Spokane area. They have children of their own, and Parks frequently attends their games and events.
"That keeps us going throughout the year, and we go as great aunts," Parks said.
Parks said she knows that many former players are planning to attend the banquet on Saturday and that there is a sense of pride in being part of their lives. She compared her role off the court to a role she played on the court.
"I was a setter. I always set up the big hitters when I played the game, and I look at it that way," she said. "I gave them a bit of a platform. They gave me everything. Their parents entrusted me with them, and I was so lucky to have them so close for four years. It was really, really special."
Continue reading...
