Fighting the odds with a positive attitude and an inspirational team

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For a guy who’s lived with cancer for more than a year, Chip Fenenga is remarkably upbeat. But I suppose embracing a positive attitude is what has kept the 20-year Santa Ynez volleyball coach alive.

Tonight’s Division III-AA semifinal contest between the Pirates and California will be the final match Fenenga will coach this season since he’s scheduled on Friday to have surgery to remove a cancerous lung at Stanford University Medical Center.

In August 2006, Fenenga was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. And even though surgeries on his colon and liver in combination with six months of chemotherapy got rid of the cancerous tumors in those areas, Fenenga has experienced metastasis in one of his lungs, a common characteristic of colorectal cancer.

‘I’m going into this with the attitude that I can’t give up,’ said Fenenga, 48. ‘The reality of the situation is that I’m really blessed to have so much support. The community and the school has been very supportive.’

Fenenga also has found inspiration from the girls he coaches. Even though the team has proved they are survivors on the court thanks to three consecutive Los Padres League titles and this year’s deep postseason run, they are also survivors in life. Three players have lost parents to cancer and the team’s starting setter is diabetic. Senior team captains Julia Mathews and Allison Ibsen have also assumed an invaluable leadership role, helping the team excel at the times when Fenenga has been unable to attend matches.

‘I know it’s tough odds because stage four colon cancer has a 5% five-year survival rate,’ said Fenenga, who also is a science teacher at Santa Ynez. ‘But I know you can beat the odds. Last week, we had a tough match against Warren and the kids didn’t give up even though we were not supposed to win. That’s the way I’m looking at it.’

It takes a lot to pull a coach away from the program he’s helped lead deep in the playoffs and I wish Fenenga the very best in his fight toward full recovery.

- Austin Knoblauch

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