Pat Gomes-Woolsey is recognized by Council member Ikaka Anderson. Photo courtesy City Hall.
From Hawaii Ahe Staff Reports
(Honolulu)–For nearly three decades, Pat Gomes-Woolsey has been immersed at courtside in Hawaii’s time-honored sport of high school volleyball. Coaching boys and girls from the time she herself was in high school, Pat has never lost her passion for the game.
This month, the coach was recognized by the Honolulu City Council for her tireless efforts.
“Setting in motion her lifetime career while just a student at Kaimuki High, Pat first assisted coaching the girls volley ball team atKaimuki Intermediate. Knowing this was a path she would follow, by 1983, she was coaching her first game at Castle High, where she remains today as the head coach of a not-so-shabby team of Knights who recently clinched the 2011 OIA Volleyball Title. Pat also coached the Castle girls team from 1987 to 1995,” said Councilman Ikaka Anderson.
Pat’s success as a coach has come from many influences. Pat says her life has been most positively impacted by her mother with whom she always held a close relationship and who supported her through every basketball, volleyball and soccer game she ever played.
Pat’s Mom taught by example: to always work hard, to be considerate and firm, but to be kind. Pat also credits her alumnae coaches, Grant Tolentino and Nell Yanagida for their constant support as assistant coaches, utilizing their knowledge and skills throughout the years. Pat has had the opportunity to give back to them by serving as assistant coach to Tolentino for the Castle Girls Team, and toYanagida for the Castle Girls JV and Blue Teams.
Pat gave special thanks and acknowledgment to her current assistant coach, Danell Yanagida, for her many talents and her skilled strategies in getting the Knights through every game. And last, but certainly not least, Pat could not live without husband Hale, whom she encountered at a conference 25 years after dating him in high school. One year later Pat and Hale were married.
Pat’s advice for young athletes is “to always observe the three H’s—your heart, your head and your hands—in order to be successful in the game: Put your thoughts before your actions, feel your team with your heart, and reach out to help others.” Pat has clearly followed her own advice.