Coach Bios
Pat Bonner
Coach, Boys 16-Pat
pat@epicvb.com [view roster]
Pat Bonner is the Head Coach of Epic Volleyball Club. He is a resident of Poway and comes from a true volleyball family. His brother Mike has been a fixture at Epic and referees; his father Tim has been one of San Diego's top referees for many years; and his mother Judy is a regular in the stands, supporting her boys and their teams.
Pat played high school volleyball for USDHS and was MVP and Captain of a CIF Championship team and was named to the All-CIF team. In 1991 he was the Pepsi Player of the Year in San Diego. Pat also played soccer for USDHS and was named to the All-CIF team in that sport as well. Pat played club volleyball with Seaside and is a member of Seaside's Hall of Fame as a player. He was a scholarship athlete at San Diego State, where he played setter for the Aztecs.
Pat's coaching experience is extensive. At the collegiate level, he has been an assistant coach with Alliant University's women's team and with Mesa College's men's team, and most recently Pat spent two seasons as the Assistant Coach with the University of California, Irvine women's team.
At the club level, Pat coached girls for two years with Club Pacific and five years with San Diego. In 1992, Pat was an assistant coach at Seaside with a team that won a National Championship title.
At Epic, Pat coached his teams to some great performances. In 2004 his 17-1 team finished 5th at Las Vegas, 3rd at So Cal JO Qualifier (Open Bid), 5th at Reno JO Qualifier, stayed in Division 1 of SCVA 18s all year, finished 13th overall in SCVA, and tied for 15th at JO 17 Open Division. The 17-1 was the first team in Epic history to qualify for the Open Level of JO's. In 2005 his 18-Pat team finished 5th at Regionals, 9th overall in SCVA, and 3rd place at the Festival. In 2006, Pat pulled double duty by being the head coach of both the 18-Pat and 16-1 squads. 18-Pat finished a respectable 11th at the Festival, while the 16-1 team qualified in the JO Open Division, finishing 12th in the nation. In 2009, in his return to Epic, Pat was the head coach of both the 18-1 and 14-1 teams. The 14-1 team finished 6th overall in SCVA, placed 5th in both the So Cal JO Qualifier (earned Open Bid) and the NEQ JO Qualifier. They went on to finish tied for 15th in the JO 14 Open Division. In 2010, Pat coached the 18-1 girls and the 18-Pat boys team. The Girls finished 10th at Volleyball Festival in Phoenix. The 18-Pat boys team qualified for the Open Level of JO's where they finished 17th. With both Epic 18-Pat and 18-Darrell playing in the Open, it marked the first time a boys club from San Diego has placed two teams in one Open division. In 2011, Pat coached both the 18-1 and 16-1 teams. He teamed up with Bert Novicio on the 18-1 team, which placed 4th at Festival. Pat and Steve Lamb coached the 16-1 team, which took 3rd place at the Pacific Northwest Qualifier, 5th at the Baltimore Northeast Qualifier, and went on to play in the 16-Open of Junior Nationals. For the 2012 season, Pat coached our 18-1 team, and took them to the AAU Championship in Orlando, and placed 39th in the Open Division. In 2013, Pat again coached our 18-1 team and the team came together in a big way to finish 13th in the AAU Open Division in Orlando. In 2014, Pat coached the 18-1 team with former Olympian Eric Sato. Pat also coached the 14-Pat team that had some tremendous finishes, including making it to Finals of the SCVA So Cal qualifier in the America Division, and an 8th place finish at Volleyball Festival. This past season Pat coached out 17-1 team with Danielle Lamb. This team had some exciting finishes at both the Las Vegas Invitational and the AAU Championship in Orlando.
At the conclusion of the 2006 season, Pat was hired as an assistant coach for the women's volleyball team at the University of California, Irvine. While at UC Irvine, Pat had numerous responsibilities, including team ball control and defense, being in charge of opponent scouting reports and video breakdown, assisting with recruitment of student athletes, and managing Big West/CSTV video feeds. In 2007, Pat coached two club teams in the Orange County area, for two different clubs. He coached the Orange County Volleyball Club 18-Nike team with Jim Downey and captured the Volleyball Festival Championship. He also coached the Cal Juniors 15-1 team, which qualified at the JO Open level. Both of Pat's teams stayed in SCVA Division 1 all year, and were amongst the best teams in the region. During the 2007 season, Pat gained invaluable experience working with both Charlie Brande (UC Irvine and OCVBC) and Brian Gimmillaro (Long Beach State and Cal Juniors), two of the most successful and renowned coaches in the history of the sport. In 2008, Pat was hired as the Head Coach/Administrator of Orange County Volleyball Club. He coached the 18-Nike team to a 10th place finish in the SCVA without a player registering over 6' 0 on the roster.
In 2005, Pat teamed up with Paula Weishoff, where he coached the USA High Perfomance Camp and led his team to the under-14 High Performance gold medal at the USA HP Championships in Austin, Texas.
Pat is also an experienced high-level volleyball referee. For five years straight he was the referee for the boys and girls CIF Finals in San Diego. He also was a CIF Division 1 State Championship referee. Pat was also a referee at the NCAA Division 1 level for three years.
Pat not only brings tremendous experience to the role of Head Coach, but also his contagious enthusiasm and energy make him a great leader for all of Epic's coaches.
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