After over 25 years of coaching and numerous awards, Coach Santiago Wilfred Navalta retired. The Lady Seasiders volleyball team and all of BYU-Hawaii will miss his leadership and counsel. Coach Navalta announced his retirement at the BYUH Seasiders last game in the national playoff semi-finals this past December after taking first place in the Pacific West Conference. His career spanned from August 1985 to December 2012. Navalta won eight NAIA National Championships with two Division II Championships at BYUH. He was honored as National Coach of the Year in 1999 and 1996. Navalta won NAIA Regional Coach of the Year awards in 1996 and 1997. Navalta received the Coach of the Year award for Division 2 conferences in Louisville, Kentucky on Dec. 13, 2012, for the second time since 1998.In his acceptance speech for being named Coach of The Year, he offered gratitude to all those who helped him throughout his coaching career. He thanked his Heavenly Father, his family, past and present players, coaches, the BYUH student body, teachers, athletic directors, and even the bus drivers. Some of the current volleyball players were able to describe their experiences with Navalta and what they have learned from his teachings.“Coach Navalta has contributed so much to the volleyball program here at BYUH, and his influence will continue to be felt in the years to come,” said Erica Wiles, a sophomore from Oregon studying exercise sports science. “His experience and knowledge of the game has made a big impact on my skills as a player, and taught me to focus on the now—don’t worry about what’s coming down the road. “Coach Navalta was always positive and kept us laughing with his silly sense of humor. He not only made us better volleyball players, but better individuals as well. Navalta was always reminding us of the bigger picture. He continually helped us keep our priorities straight. If you put God first, do your best in your academics, and give your all on the court, success will follow,” Wiles continued. “I still remember my first year playing at BYU-Hawaii. I didn’t know what to do with myself because I knew that I would have to red-shirt because of my ACT scores that I could not pass. I knew he was the nation’s best coach as I sat in the first meeting and the first thing he told us was, ‘I want to remind you, that the important thing that you learn this season will be to strengthen your testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.’ It started off my career at BYUH right. I took that meeting as a defining moment for me as to how I was going to live my life as a volleyball player for this university,” said Melanie Manutai, a junior in EXS from Honolulu. “I ended up playing for two years, chose to serve a mission and came back to play one more season with him, and I’m indeed grateful that I did. The triangle helped me to understand what true victory is all about. There are many definitions for, ‘Going for the Gold’ at the top of that pyramid, and he taught me that the most important part of that triangle is the bottom part of putting the Lord first. “This past season, we all put the Lord first, and we came home victorious. I believe the Lord knew the real victories of what to give us this season and that was the eternal friendship and feeling of ohana that we all felt as a team. He has affected many lives, and I am one of them. He taught me how to be a champion. He was my professor as well as my coach here at BYU-Hawaii, and I’m so grateful and honored to have played for such a prestigious and spiritually rich man,” Manutai added.Courtney Skaggs, a senior in EXS from La Mesa, Calif., said, “I came to BYUH not as a recruit and did not think much about playing volleyball for the school. That is until I was in Coach Navalta’s volleyball class and he gave me an opportunity to play with and try out for the team. Ever since then, he has been a teacher, example, and a grandpa away from home. He is not a typical coach and I have never had a coach quite like Coach Navalta, but I can say that he was the best coach I have ever had. He has a brilliant mind and passion for the game of volleyball and knows how to get the best performance out of his athletes. “But the thing I will remember the most about Coach Navalta is the framework of success that he instilled in teams year after year. That framework was founded first on the gospel of Jesus Christ, next came our academics, and after those two were taken care of, we were able to focus and be successful on the court. The experiences I have had and the spirit I have felt the past three years of playing for Coach Navalta are invaluable and will never be forgotten. “Coach is very humble and often overlooked, but his success on the court over the years and more importantly his success of molding and influencing women for decades will never be forgotten. I love Coach and I cannot be more thankful to have learned and grown in the time I have been a player for him.” Coach Navalta’s passion for the gospel and love for people is evident from his team’s remarks. In the closing words of his speech, Navalta said, “I leave two thoughts with you that have helped me throughout my coaching career and life: one, supreme effort in things spiritual influences infinite success; two, spiritual victories are more important than physical victories. May the Lord be good to us all now and forever.”Written by: Alec Barney~Multimedia Journalist
Writer: Alec Barney~Multimedia Journalist
