Miki McFadden takes over as volleyball coach

Miki McFadden has taken over the reins as Sisters High School's head volleyball coach. McFadden had a long and illustrious career as a player in addition to years of experience as a coach, so she knows and understands both sides of the coin.

Miki moved to Sisters seven years ago with her partner, Peggy Lukens, and their two daughters, Nila and Alana.

"Santa Barbara was just too rich for our blood," said Miki. "We had family in Portland and family friends who were moving to Bend. We flew up and checked out the area, immediately loved it and packed up and moved."

McFadden started her volleyball career in Hawaii, where she played outside hitter at Punahou School and put in many extra hours of practice at the Outrigger Canoe Club.

Miki went on to play at USC, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree.

Her first year at USC (1966) McFadden tried out for the National Volleyball Team, and at 18 years of age was the youngest player to make the squad.

At this point in her career, McFadden switched from outside hitter to setter. At 5-feet-9-inches McFadden recognized that the rest of the girls on the team were taller and saw the team needed setters.

"I had pretty good hands, and the coach encouraged me to work on my setting because that's what the team needed," stated McFadden.

The national team traveled to Tokyo, Japan, for a month for the World Games and came back with a silver medal, just behind Japan. The second-place finish qualified them for the Olympics.

"We ranged in age from 18 to women in their thirties," said McFadden. "Most of the girls were teachers and working women who had to take time off work. It was a whole different era back then. It was the first time I'd been away, and it was a new and different world. It was so exciting and overwhelming. It was great to be with the best women players in the U.S. and get that connection. I think that's what really set up my career in volleyball."

Eighteen women were chosen from the National Tournament, which is held every year in the United States in May. Players trained and then 12 were chosen for the Olympic team. Miki was one of the 12 elite chosen. The women trained at high elevation in Lake Tahoe in preparation for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.

That year, for the first and only time, the Olympics were moved to October because of political unrest. It was also only the second Olympics in which volleyball had been included as an Olympic sport.

"Japan and the Soviet Union were professional. but it wasn't like that in the United States," said McFadden. "The U.S. had no money, we didn't travel and there were no paid coaches."

The Olympic Games in Mexico was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"The biggest thing was being with all the athletes from all over the world," said Miki. "It was such an electric environment."

At the time, McFadden didn't realize she'd be a witness to significant events in U.S. history. One event particularly stood out in Miki's mind.

"I was friends with John Carlos and Tommy Smith (who won the bronze and gold medals in the 200-meter dash). As the Star Spangled Banner played while they were standing on the podium they each raised a black gloved hand into the air in protest of the treatment of African Americans. Because of that they were escorted out of the Olympic Village and sent home."

Miki graduated from USC in 1971, and before getting her master's degree she participated in the Pan American Games in Cali, Columbia.

"It was kind of hostile there, especially the Cubans," said McFadden. "It was eye-opening and shocking. I remember watching the men's team play Cuba. One of our guys dove for the ball and a Cuban spectator threw a glass coke bottle at him and hit him in the back. I really saw the hatred of the U.S. and there wasn't security like we have now."

McFadden told The Nugget that conditions were sub-par. The players' village wasn't finished and all the rooms had dirt floors.

"It was pretty bad, and I don't even remember how we finished," said Miki. "My knees were killing me and I was ready to say bye-bye."

McFadden quit the national team and went back to school and earned her master's degree but continued to play volleyball. Miki played a lot of indoor and beach volleyball and participated in numerous tournaments with her infamous partner, Kathy Gregory, who has been the women's UC Santa Barbara coach for the past 37 years. McFadden and Gregory are both Hall of Fame Beach Players.

In the 1980s McFadden went to Nationals with the Masters, a volleyball team that is divided into age groups. Later, at age 51, Miki played in the Senior Olympics in Florida.

"The Senior Olympics was a bunch of old lady friends competing," said Miki. "We all still have the heart of a young person. We beat a team from Germany in the finals and many of those women were ones we'd competed against earlier in our careers. It was just as exciting as when I was younger. When you're competitive it doesn't matter how old you are."

McFadden started her coaching career while she was competing on the national team. She coached and taught at Marlborough, a girls' school in Los Angeles, from 1969-1976. In 1976 her team won the High School Nationals. Four of those players went on to play for Stanford and two played for UCLA.

Miki went back to Punahou School, where she graduated, and coached there from 1983 to 1985 and then coached at El Segundo High School in Southern California for 10 years, from 1985-1995.

McFadden coached at Ventura Community College from 1995-2005 and then retired.

McFadden told The Nugget that the reason she got back into coaching was for her girls.

"My girls had been to my games and they wanted to try volleyball," said McFadden. "They loved it and so I told them that I'd coach as long as they wanted to play."

McFadden applied for the SHS head volleyball coach position, got it and immediately gave it all she had.

"I went into it full steam," she said.

McFadden has already begun to implement Gold Medal Squared (GMS), a system started by coaches who have won gold medals at the Olympics, many of whom Miki had played with.

"They've done lots of research," said McFadden. "They've accumulated lots of statistics on the best way to perform the skills in volleyball. They also put on coaches clinics, and team and player camps.

"This is definitely going to be a transition year," the coach said. "I've been to a GMS clinic and I'm trying to get all of my coaches and players on the same page. Some of our girls have already learned the GMS system and some are just learning it now. I have a great group of girls and they all have good attitudes, want to learn and are very encouraging of each other, which is all I can ask for."