Coaching Staff

Coach Profile – Tad Sahara

Full Name: Tad Sahara
2009-2010 Team: Head Coach
History: 8th season with Tsunami
Education: High School: Redan High School
College: Augustana College, Rock Island, IL
Professional: Japanese Teacher and Head Volleyball coach at Woodward Academy.
Coaching Experience: South Atlanta Volleyball Club, Atlanta, GA, 1998-2000
Tsunami Volleyball Club Director, 2000-2003
Tsunami Volleyball Club - Coach, 2000-present
Woodward Academy 2004-present (2004 and 2005 AAAA-State Champions)
Playing Experience: Started playing volleyball in 1992. Have been playing as a setter on a USAV men's team since 1996, and have competed at the USAV Nationals in San Jose, Columbus, Milwaukee, and Dallas. At the Dallas Nationals (2002), the team finished 3rd in men's B, and was selected to the all-tournament team. At the Atlanta Nationals (2004), the coed team finished 1st in B/BB, and was selected to the all-tournament team.
Best Coaching Experience
  • The second practice in my first year of coaching: As a first year coach, with no previous coaching experience, I was feeling my way around what to do and how to do it. It was at this second practice that we worked on hitting, and the improvement from the beginning and end of practice was remarkable. To see the happiness on the girls' faces, and their huge desire to learn was something that I will never forget.
  • The first year that I coached at Woodward, we had a couple of amazing weeks of practices leading up to the State Championship. The feeling of knowing that we did everything that we could to prepare for the Championship was almost a better feeling than winning State. That season we knew that we were winners regardless of the final match because of all the hard work that we put in.
  • Coaching Pole Vaulting: I participated in track and field in college (pole vaulting and javelin). I absolutely love the sport because ultimately it is about competing against yourself. Yes, it is nice to win against your opponents, but the goal should always be to improve upon past performances and shooting for PRs (personal records). One of my best coaching experiences was last year when one of my pole vaulters placed 2nd at state. The thing that made it special was that the emphasis was always on PRs, and so there was never any pressure at beating other vaulters, instead it was just about competing against past results. That year she had PRed 5 times!