Peter Ogle, 41 years into his tenure as head girls volleyball coach at La Jolla Country Day School, sees what talent he has, takes it, and makes the most of it. It’s an expectation-free approach, as the veteran coach portrays it.
“It’s fun to take what you have, and see what you can do with it,” says Ogle, still as intense and demanding as always, by his own account. “Whether you win state, or finish last in the league, that’s how good you were.”
But the four-decade coach, whose final Lady Torrey team will play its last regular season home game Oct. 17 before he calls it a career, says that “Every year I have a special group (of girls)” and he still looks forward to coming to school every day to teach and to coach because he has “great kids.” “It’s easy. It’s easy to come to school, easy to coach (because of this).”
Ogle, who grew up in Coronado playing the traditional sports of basketball and baseball, got more and more into the volleyball he played on the beach, parlaying that into a college career playing indoor volleyball at San Diego State. In his 41 years at LJCDS, his unique old-school combination of caring and intensity, sprinkled with plenty of technical knowledge, have led at this writing to 733 wins, 380 losses, three Coastal League championships, seven CIF championships, four Southern California Regional championships, and three state championships.
Candice Wiggins, the Stanford and WNBA basketball standout, now retired, can attest to Ogle’s wizardry as a coach. Wiggins, who graduated from Country Day in 2004 and who played both volleyball and basketball in high school and college, says, “Coach Ogle knew intuitively what I needed. He gave me rides from my home in Poway. He talked about his father. He was a baseball aficionado, so he knew about my father (former major leaguer Alan Wiggins, who died after substance abuse and AIDS). It was just what I needed.”
“I tried out for volleyball for him in the eighth grade,” says Wiggins with a lot of energy. “I was scared to death of him because you could see it even then (his demanding nature). But I was attracted to that. He pushed me.”
Bill Cahoone, a coaching colleague of Ogle’s at Country Day for more than 30 years, knows that intense side of Ogle. Cahoone, who will be inducted as a “Coaching Legend” in November primarily for his golf coaching at LJCDS, says, “He’s a fabulous teacher and coach. The girls know exactly what is expected of them. He’s pretty tough on them. We’re pretty good friends. We’ve talked. Coaching in the 70’s and 80’s was much easier than now. Now you have to keep your hand on the pulse of everything in your program. (He does that.)”
Jeff Hutzler, the long-time Torrey athletic director, said: “Whether he’s teaching a second-grade PE class or a varsity volleyball team in a state final, (Ogle) is a consummate professional at what he does. He puts his body, mind, and soul into what he does.”