Record-Holding Volleyball Coach Thanks SMC for His Success (Sort Of)

Adam Titcher
Special to the Mirror

   Anyone affiliated with the sport of volleyball — whether a player, a coach, or even a fan — has an obligation to thank the City of Santa Monica for the sport’s global success. More so, thank Santa Monica City College, the school that cut Al Scates from its volleyball team in 1957.
   “I tried out for about fifteen minutes before I was cut,” UCLA volleyball coach Al Scates said. “But it was righteous, because I didn’t know how to play at the time, and seeing all of the good players piqued my interest in the sport. I went out and learned the game.”
   Having completed his 40th season with the Bruins, Coach Scates is arguably the best coach in volleyball history. Even though his team lost to UCSB recently, in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, his career record of 1054-174 is safe.
   “He’s the best coach in America,” UCSB coach Ken Preston recently said. “I’ve been in the league for 22 years, but he was a veteran when I came in. He knows everything about the game.”
   On paper, Scates’ winning record is a phenomenal 85.8 percent, but on the rafters of Pauley Pavilion, the real treasures hang. Since 1970, Scates has led UCLA to 18 NCAA titles, with the latest in 2000.
   Yet, there would be no celebration if not for SMC and its tough competition at the time Scates attended the community college.
   Scates graduated from Westchester High School in 1957, and attended SMC for the next two years, where he received his A.A. During his time there, he made daily trips to State Beach where he watched and learned from the best volleyball players in the city.
   “Before, I never knew much about volleyball, but then it got into my blood,” Scates added.
   After all the trips to State Beach, Scates finally made the cut. He started for UCLA’s volleyball team as a junior transfer.
   But his revolution of the game did not occur until after graduation, when he started coaching. He first taught physical education at Roosevelt and Grant elementary schools in Santa Monica, but began his tenure at UCLA as head volleyball coach in 1963.
   He formed a league that same year, with four-year schools from all around the state, including SMC as its only junior college participant. SMC won the title, beating all of the four-year schools. As a result of the upsetting loss to a junior college, Scates, on behalf of the entire league, asked SMC to leave.
   “Santa Monica was too good back then, but I used to get a lot of players from there during the 70s,” Scates said. “It was a nice pipeline.”
   But the pipeline has since slowed down. SMC still has a team, but UCLA gets recruits from all over the nation now. The sport has become national, with middle school teams and high school teams in addition to university competition. The game is also a popular Olympic sport, and Scates has seen his former players win gold medals. In 1996, he even consulted for the United States Men’s team.
   The worldwide appreciation for the sport would never have grown so large, if not for Scates’ determination to support it.
   He once taught free clinics to high schools in the Los Angeles area, and has made an effort to make the sport a global competitor. And establishing his winning record at UCLA has made the sport even more interesting for so many players, including UCLA’s own Rich Nelson.
   “The number one reason I came to UCLA was because of Al Scates, and his winning tradition here,” the junior setter said. “He has changed the game in so many ways, and he is the best.”
   Looking back on it all, Scates says being cut was a main motivation to master his game. And his mastery has created a larger audience for volleyball today. He has put his life into the sport, and it has certainly paid off.
   “I was a major volunteer early on, but now I get paid to do what I do,” he said.