Seth Schwartzberg is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Perry High School for AZPreps365

GILBERT -- Being a head coach is hard, but it is a task that Perry High School and Chandler-Gilbert Community College volleyball coach Andrew Yamashiro was more than happy to take on twice at once.

Yamashiro started coaching after he finished high school at Hamilton High School. Having played since he was in seventh grade, he had the game instilled in his mind since he was young.

“My old head coach asked me if I wanted to come help out from time to time,” Yamashiro said. “I started coaching some random YMCA club team and after that, the rest is history.”

After graduating from Arizona State University, he was given his first coaching job in 2016 at Higley High School. 

While there he started his journey into the “double-dipping” world of coaching, as an assistant coach for Benedictine University in Mesa at the same time. In 2018, he brought home a state championship and national championship in the same year.

After COVID, the head coach left Benedictine and Yamashiro followed suit, getting a chance to head over to Chandler-Gilbert as an assistant coach.

“It’s just a lot of learning,” he said. “I’ve never stopped trying to get better, but it’s been a cool path to see.”

There is a difference between coaching at the high school and college level, not just the maturity of the athletes, but the style and pace of play.

He learned that it is not about changing how you train the team, but more how you train each person.

“I think that what matters is learning how to coach every kid differently,” Yamashiro said. “A lot of these coaches, as they get older, learn that every kid doesn’t run the same way. Every kid doesn’t want to work the same way.”

It was around this time that he was given a chance to go back into the “double-dipping” scene, getting offered the head coaching job at Perry High School.

One thing he strives to do as a coach is try and connect with his players, not just as athletes, but as people, too. He tries to make his players the best athletes and people they can be, something that his own players not only notice, but appreciate.

Perry junior and UC Davis commit Kail Shill gave credit to her coach and his methods for making her and the rest of the team better.

“I think that he is really good about making sure we stay on task,” Shill said. “Making sure we’re coming to practice for a reason and not just to come.”

As someone who has been playing with him for three years now, Shill has had plenty of time to see how he is as both a coach and a person, becoming someone that she can put her faith in as a player.

“I knew he also coached at a college as well,” Shill said. “Since you coach at a college, you know what you’re talking about and you know how to play. So, that really helped me and made me want to be one of his students and really learn from him.”

The same words can be said for his students at the college level. 

As one of only three non-freshmen on the Chandler-Gilbert team this season, sophomore Sage Salazar has begun to understand his style of coaching.

“The drills we do aren’t drills I’ve done before and I’ve been playing since I was 5,” Salazar said. “But, I think that his IQ for volleyball is high because he has been coaching for so long. So, I think the way he coaches is very beneficial to all of us as players and people.”

He has left an impact on not only the players, but also those who coach with him.

“It’s all about the village that you work with,” Yamashiro said. “My coaches are everything for me. My assistants do so much for me at both levels.”

One assistant coach at Chandler-Gilbert, Molly West, has been with the team since the 2023 season. She watched him go from an assistant to head coach over the years.

“He’s a pretty smart guy and a good multitasker,” West said. “He’s got things figured out, and he problem solves pretty quickly. You have to have a lot of things in the air at the same time and not get frazzled.”

It is obvious that Yamashiro has everything down to a tee and almost makes it look easy at times, but that doesn’t mean that everyone can do it. It is thanks to years of experience and learning that he is able to be in the spot he is in.