Machan Won’t Return to La Habra Next Season

Rob Machan will not return to La Habra High as girls’ volleyball coach next season, Machan said Wednesday, because he wants to devote more time to his Long Beach business and to the club team he started last year.

“It’s not choosing the club over the high school. [La Habra] was just too far and the time commitment of going every day [was too much],” Machan said.

Machan runs the Power volleyball club, which includes seven La Habra players. It is against Southern Section rules for section coaches to organize or coach outside teams that include players from their own high school.

La Habra Principal Patricia Howell said she and Machan decided last week that he would not return next season.

“It was kind of a mutual thing. When he decided to go more exclusively into the club, he understood that that was a conflict of interest and so he understood that he could not coach here,” Howell said. “We have an excellent volleyball program here and there is no way we would want to jeopardize it.”

Machan said he does not coach any of Power’s seven girls’ teams on a regular basis but that he coached the under-16 team in the Kaepa Holiday Classic at Long Beach State last month because he had to fill in for another coach.

Power’s under-16 team includes two girls who also play at La Habra, freshman Amanda Siler and sophomore Kirsten Berg. If Machan returned to coach these players at La Habra next season, it could have been a Southern Section violation.

Machan said he decided last month that he would not return to La Habra but waited until after last week’s team banquet to announce his decision.

Machan led La Habra to a 35-5 record and two co-Freeway League titles in two seasons as coach. The Highlanders reached the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division II tournament last season.