Dave Bessler

Dave Bessler, who was twice dismissed as girls' volleyball coach at Van Nuys High, has been rehired to coach the team in a controversial move by the school. Bessler coached the Wolves in 1996, when they were banned from the City Section playoffs for using an ineligible player, a punishment that ultimately led to his forced resignation and Van Nuys being banned from the 1997 playoffs.

Maybe a question mark should be added to the school motto, "Excellence for All." If the steady exodus of quality coaches in recent months didn't raise questions about the state of the athletic department at Van Nuys High, the events of the last week--the controversial hiring of a volleyball coach that led directly to the resignation of another--certainly should.

Maybe a question mark should be added to the school motto, "Excellence for All." If the steady exodus of quality coaches in recent months didn't raise questions about the state of the athletic department at Van Nuys High, the events of the last week--the controversial hiring of a volleyball coach that led directly to the resignation of another--certainly should.

Dave Bessler, who was twice dismissed as girls' volleyball coach at Van Nuys High, has been rehired to coach the team in a controversial move by the school. Bessler coached the Wolves in 1996, when they were banned from the City Section playoffs for using an ineligible player, a punishment that ultimately led to his forced resignation and Van Nuys being banned from the 1997 playoffs.

After reading about the rehiring of Dave Bessler as the girls' volleyball coach at Van Nuys High, I felt the need to publicly respond. When more and more after-school programs were being eliminated and shoved under the proverbial rug, Bessler took time out of his schedule and his life to teach the skills and techniques of volleyball to a gangly, inexperienced girl that ultimately turned her into a Division I full-scholarship athlete. I never had the opportunity to have him as a math teacher, but as a coach, Bessler is aces.

Dave Bessler has made an appeal to the California Interscholastic Federation office, but he probably should have discussed it with his Van Nuys High superiors first. Without the backing of school administrators, Bessler, Van Nuys High's girls volleyball coach, contacted state executive director Jack Hayes about an appeal of sanctions against the team. The Wolves are banned from the City Section playoffs this season because they used an ineligible player during the playoffs last year.

Van Nuys High has named Patricia Denny coach of the girls' volleyball team. Denny, a biology teacher at Van Nuys, previously coached volleyball for one year at Alhambra. Denny replaces Dave Bessler, who resigned last December, one month after the team was disqualified from the playoffs for using an ineligible player. The top seed in last year's City Section 4-A playoffs, the Wolves also forfeited all 12 regular-season matches and as further punishment, are banned from the playoffs in 1997.

The Van Nuys High girls' volleyball team has decided to play in the 4-A Division of the City Section playoffs. The Wolves compete in the Valley Pac-8 Conference, a 3-A Division, but decided to move up a division after a team meeting Friday. They have won three of the last four 3-A titles, including last season. Van Nuys Coach Dave Bessler leaned toward competing in the 4-A Division after the Wolves handily defeated Sylmar, one of the stronger 3-A teams, on Thursday.

When Van Nuys High successfully appealed to the City Section to move its girls' volleyball team from the 3-A to the 4-A division for the playoffs, Valley Pac-8 Conference rival Sylmar became an unlikely benefactor. Van Nuys won the last two 3-A championships and would have been an overwhelming favorite to win a third, but the switch has enabled second-seeded Sylmar to reach the 3-A City finals for the first time since 1990.