Popko Says He Will Return to Coaching Next Season

Gene Popko, one of the founding fathers of interscholastic volleyball and the former Inglewood High coach, says he will return next season as coach of the Inglewood boys’ team.

Popko, entering his 28th year at Inglewood, started the school’s volleyball club in 1969 and helped coach the team through the 1985 season. He resigned as coach because of conflicts with former principal Lawrence Freeman.

“I like the man, personally,” Popko said of Freeman. “But he didn’t know how to get along with people. I couldn’t work for him. I was ready to quit the year he got there. I coached one year for him.”

The following year, when problems with Freeman continued, Popko turned over the Inglewood Invitational tournament, which he started in 1971, to Mira Costa and Redondo. It has been known as the Mira Costa-Redondo Varsity Classic since 1986.

Popko said one of the reasons he decided to return to coaching is because he has a good working relationship with Inglewood Principal Ken Crowe and the school’s new athletic director, Rick Amadio.

In 1985, Popko’s last year as coach, Inglewood finished second in the Bay League to a strong North Torrance team led by CIF Player of the Year Lawrence Hom. The Sentinels have struggled since then, finishing no higher than fourth place in league play.

Popko replaces Carl Wilson, who coached Inglewood for the past three years. The Sentinels have not won a league title since 1977.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Popko said. “You can’t build a winning team overnight, but there are a lot of good athletes in the school. Maybe I can get some of them out for volleyball.”