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2007-2008
Antelope Valley Girl's
By GREG WAGNER
Valley Press Staff Writer
At least that's the plan, with the Antelope Valley College volleyball program officially bringing on Turhan Douglas and Mark Cruz as assistant coaches on Tuesday. Douglas is a former USC men's volleyball head coach, while Cruz was his assistant at the Division-I program.
"We are bringing in a wealth of knowledge and experience," AVC head coach Jane Cwayna said. "Hopefully (high school players) will get to know these gentlemen and stick around home and play for us if they don't get a scholarship."
Douglas guided the Trojans for four years and said he brought in a recruiting class rated in the nation's top 3 during three of those seasons. He left USC in 2006 with the demands of a sometimes five-hour commute from the Valley to downtown Los Angeles and back taking too much away from his family time.
But he and Cruz kept on coaching, continuing to run Revolution - a club volleyball team in the Valley that they started in 2004. When Cwayna, a coach at AVC the last 27 seasons, approached the two seeking to fill the roles opened when longtime assistants Karen and Larry Valencia told her they would retire following the season, Cruz and Douglas were more than willing to get back to coaching at the college level.
"I believe (coaching) is a calling, it's something that's not a job," said Douglas, who has been working in real estate since leaving USC. "You can't get it out of your blood - you're a coach, that's who you are."
Douglas, 38, has already shown he can be successful at the junior college level. In charge of Los Angeles Pierce's men's and women's teams for a collective eight seasons, the coach sent more than a dozen players to the Division-I level. He was named South Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 1999.
Cruz, 31, assisted him during his four years in charge of USC and Douglas was an assistant in the program for three years before becoming its head coach. They have recruited players from all over the country and the world, including the Trojans' star hitter, Juan Figueroa of Puerto Rico.
"When I take that same recruiting approach that I would a Division-I player, it's a really big deal," said Douglas, who was 30-89 at USC.
Douglas said the women's Division-I game has been changing over the last 10 years to appear more like the men's version. Having spent seven years at USC, he would appear to know what coaches are looking for at that level.
"What we can bring is just our knowledge of the game at the very highest level," Douglas said. "We're familiar with the way the game is played now and the way it's going to be played in the future."
The two coaches have already helped get several Valley volleyball players to four-year schools through their club team. The Marauders hope their connection with that program, which they will continue to run, will be able to direct those who don't receive scholarships out of high school to AVC - a team that is 50-42 over the last five seasons.
"We want to get the Valley strong at that (junior college) level," Cruz said.
Cruz, the Bethel Christian High School athletic director, is a Highland alum who has been the varsity girls coach at Hart and an assistant with the Bulldogs in addition to his time spent coaching and playing (Pierce, 98-99) under Douglas.
