Living The Dream As A Volleyball Coach
By Jack Danilewicz
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If there were any questions about Todd Cambonga’s resolve to make the Waialua girls volleyball program a player among the top Division II programs, they were answered when the coach himself participated with his players in the grueling off-season conditioning sessions he implemented at the beach.
That was more than a year ago, but the routine hasn’t changed as he and the Bulldogs began preparing for the 2009 season during the past few weeks.
Cambonga, who runs the North Shore volleyball club Kolohe Athletics, took some time away from his schedule last week on the eve of Waialua’s season to answer some questions for MidWeek.
What is your earliest sports-related memory? For me, I had really bad asthma, so I couldn’t play athletics until my dad found out that swimming was good for me. They put me into swimming, and that was the sport I competed in (at Maryknoll). When I got older and was out of college, I started playing in rec leagues and club volleyball. I fell in love with it and wanted to have my own club.
Who has had the biggest impact on you in your life? I would have to say my parents. They gave up a lot to be able to send me to private schools. We weren’t rich, and we didn’t live in town. If not for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. They were strict, and that helped me to make good decisions later on.
When did you know that you wanted to be a coach? I wanted to make my own club. I didn’t know that many coaches back then, so I thought I’d learn as I played myself. I started coaching my own team (Kolohe), which wasn’t hard since I was older than most of them anyway.
Who are your mentors in coaching? How have they influenced how you run your own program? Wayne Jandoc, who was my coach for Summer Fun and the director at Waialua District Park then. He taught me a lot that I know. I still use everything I learned from him.
How much further along do you feel the program is now that you have a had a full season and two so called off-seasons on the job?
I’ve seen improvement every day. Last year, they were new to us, and we were new to them. They’ve given 100 percent to me every day (of conditioning), and they’ve been willing to listen and correct bad habits.
I know you have been doing a lot of your conditioning on the beach. How have your kids responded to your off-season workouts this year? This year, the attitude and the dedication is better, and we’ve progressed faster. Last year, we lost about 32 of our 70 girls the first week of conditioning. This year, every kid that came out made it all the way through. The seniors already knew what to expect, so we had them talk to the other girls about what it was like. I told them I had gone through the conditioning, too, and that it was tough. They have to give up a lot and make the commitment.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in building a varsity volleyball program? For me, it’s the bonding and (getting the right) attitude and getting them to work as a team. Juniors and seniors already have their cliques, and they come to athletics with cliques. We work on team bonding a lot.
What aspect of your team do you feel best about as you begin the new season? I think their attitude and motivation. They’re real supportive of each other, and they’re focused. Their positive attitudes are helping us out. It looks promising for us.
Who on the Waialua roster will surprise people in 2008? A lot of them have made great improvement. One upcoming player is Christel Banis. Another is Pua Naki, who was on the JV (in 2008). She’s improved her game a lot. Both she and Christel have really shown me they want to play, and I would add Chelsea Hardin, too.
How do you relax when you’re away from the team? When I’m not coaching, I spend a lot of time with family - parents and my sisters. They come to all the games, and my sisters work the concession stands. Mostly, we hang out and play a lot of games - horse shoes, bocci ball, DS (video games), Itouch ... we’re really competitive with each other.
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