The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Last Monday was a special night for “Mr. Lancer,” longtime Lakewood volleyball coach and athletic director Mike Wadley. A volleyball coach at the school for two decades before retiring last year, Wadley has also been the athletic director the the school for nearly a decade. Last week he was honored by the CIF Southern Section at its annual Champions For Character awards banquet, held at the Grand in Long Beach.
“It was pretty surreal, when I first got the letter I didn’t know what it was,” said Wadley. “Usually when you get a letter from the CIF it’s kinda ‘uhhhhh what happened?’ I read the letter and sat on the front porch and choked up.”
Wadley had his family on hand, as well as Lakewood assistant principal Lloyd Wilson (who nominated him for the award) as well as Lancers activities director Worren Booth and longtime friend and former rival coach Jeff Eyanson.
In addition to giving his time on the Lakewood campus, Wadley was also a longtime club coach, and served on the CIF-SS’ volleyball coaches advisory committee.
“Being recognized for your body of work as a coach or an AD, being recognized for that is really cool,” he said. “Lakewood’s won seven of them, I’m number eight, it’s something that means a lot to me.”
Wadley said that while he can get caught up in the daily dramas and problems to solve on his campus, it was meaningful to be in a room full of other honorees who are fighting the good fight every day.
“You go in that room and there are other people jus like you, in different schools or cities,” he said. “It’s special. You’re a part of these people being recognized for their work.”
While the award can feel like a cumulative or retrospective honor, Wadley said he doesn’t feel like he’s close to the end of his career yet.
“I love what I’m doing, I love working with our coaches, I’m having the time of my life right now,” he said. “I’ve got eight years at least until retirement and we’ll see after that. I’m not done yet. My coaching chapter has closed and this is a new chapter I’m writing.”
Wadley said that the LBUSD and his school’s support of giving more time for AD work throughout the day has paid dividends, as he’s put together a school-wide Nike deal that will begin in April, and is working on other school-wide contract like with game film/stat manager HUDL.
“Having time to do all that stuff finally is huge,” said Wadley. “I appreciate their support and trust–it’s a lot of fun right now.”
