Both Santa Rosa soccer coaches share Viking pedigree

Standing across the field from girls she helped coached, Nikki Kumasaka knew her Santa Rosa girls' tie Wednesday with Montgomery was a bitter result for the vaunted Vikings. But that's her job as the Panthers' new soccer coach.

“That's my old team. We want to beat them,” Kumasaka said. “I love Montgomery. I played there. I coached there. But I wanted my own team. I think it was time.”

Fellow Montgomery graduate Jon Schwan knows the feeling as the new Santa Rosa boys' soccer coach after two years leading the Vikings' junior varsity. The only blemish on his Panthers' league record is a tie with Montgomery.

“It was a little weird being on the other sideline in the game at Montgomery. But I want to beat them bad when I go against them,” he said. “It gets to a point where you know you're ready for the challenge.”

Putting more bite into the Panthers this soccer season, the pair of young coaches with the Montgomery pedigree have led their squads to the North Coast Section playoffs.

Even more important, Kumasaka, 31, and Schwan, 29, are working together to make Santa Rosa one of the North Bay's best programs and don't plan to leave anytime soon, school officials said.

“They had a good knowledge of the X's and O's of the sport, but more importantly they bought into the vision of building a unified soccer program,” said Alan Nealley, the Santa Rosa assistant principal who led the hiring process. “Both of these coaches know how to kind ofrelate to the players and know how to pull the best qualities out of the players.”

Switching allegiances wasn't easy for the pair. But such a move is not unprecedented to land a head coaching job in the North Bay League.

More noteworthy, Kumasaka and Schwan were just a year apart as Montgomery students, and earned their coaching chops at the same time, first in the Annadel Youth Soccer League and then at Montgomery. Now they are leading Santa Rosa teams across town.

“You get places in life by taking risks,” said Montgomery girls soccer coach Pat McDonald. “You're just happy for them.”

Santa Rosa's boys have been the biggest surprise, going undefeated in league and playing perhaps the best soccer in the North Coast Section.

“It's all on the players,” Schwan said. “I was lucky enough to take this program over at the same time that a lot of players matured and developed.”

But it was Schwan who sensed the need to challenge his players after the first practice to win the league championship and get back to the NCS playoffs — and they did convincingly.

“I don't think they were prepared for that,” he said. “I was challenging them and they loved it and responded to it. The greatest challenge is keeping the guys lose and enjoying themselves, but at the same time making sure they're ready to play the game.”

While the Panthers girls didn't win the league, they are dangerous, as reflected in tying the region's two top teams, Maria Carrillo and Montgomery. Having reached the NCS each of the past two years, Santa Rosa now aims to win a playoff game.

“I honestly think Santa Rosa can play with any team. It just depends on how the girls play,” Kumasaka said.

Developing team unity has been Kumasaka's primary goal. She didn't know a single player before practice started and wasn't sure how hard they would work to improve.

After tying Maria Carrillo early in league play, a high point to be sure, Kumasaka took her team on a ropes course in Occidental. The Panthers have been in a groove ever since.

“I let them know what my expectations were. I wanted them to bond together as a team. We're understanding each other and finally working together as a team instead of as individuals,” she said.

Both credit the Montgomery head coaches with preparing them for part-time jobs that pay little — about $3,500 a season — relative to the hours required, yet can be a lot of fun. Kumasaka was an assistant to McDonald. Schwan worked with Mark Dunn, the Vikings' boys coach.

“It wasn't so much the soccer aspect of it, but the way things are done,” Schwan said.

In addition to some four hours a day of practices, games and preparation, there are league meetings, parent expectations, and most important, studies and getting good grades.

From paperwork to strategy to honing coaching styles, the Panthers coaches have worked together through a long season that began with summer training.

“We've been able to bounce things off each other and help each other out. Hopefully we'll both be there for a long time,” Schwan said.

To be successful, both coaches recognize these are teen-agers with many demands on their time who want to make the most of what for many is the peak of their athletic careers.

“There's some days where you push them to the extreme and there's some days where you lay off and have a little fun,” Kumasaka said. “I've lightened a little since the beginning. I know them well and I can trust them.”

Kumasaka is firm but fair, much like her style as a physical education teacher at Slater Middle School.

Schwan, owner of a window cleaning business, is a more low key coach who has a fiery side when needed.

“You have to show them that you care about them and that you can have fun with them, but push them when necessary,” Schwan said. “It's so big for them to wear that name across their chest. As a coach if you're not taking pride in it too, then you're kind of short selling them.”

Santa Rosa is the name on the jersey the Panthers coaches care most about these days.

“I always wanted to be the coach, but I never thought it would be at Santa Rosa,” Kumasaka said. “It's one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, but definitely one of the best.”

You can reach Staff Writer Michael Coit at 521-5470 or mike.coit@pressdemocrat.com.