Sometimes Holmes stays home while his Vikings play

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What do you do when the mind is willing but the heart isn’t? You sit at the end of the bench. Or in the stands. Or sit it out completely and stay home.

That’s been Roger Holmes’ modus operandi most of this season. The Marina boys’ basketball coach has lived with a condition called atrial fibrillation, but it was nothing that ever prevented him from doing anything. The second week of December, it got more complicated. He felt weird in his chest.

Doctors discovered his heart was pumping about 10% less blood than it should. There was no blockage, no structural damage. But in games, where the heat of competition does all kinds of things to one’s body, Holmes felt lightheaded or like he wasn’t getting enough oxygen.

He hasn’t coached a game since.

‘There’s a conflict there where the heart rate is up, the adrenaline is up, the blood pressure is normal but the heart’s not pumping enough blood out,’ Holmes said Friday, a few hours before his team was to take on Newport Harbor -- and he was going to stay home. ‘At this point, I have to take a step back and work through this. If I had the flu, I might suck it up. Something with your heart, it might be a good idea to let your head rule the day.’

Holmes still attends practices, and does some light exercises. The game coaching for the Vikings, who set a national record with 473 three-point baskets last season and still have a penchant for shooting three-point baskets at an amazing rate, has been done by Andrew Meyer and Tom McCanna. But when Holmes stays out of the gym, he’s also missing the opportunity to watch his son, Brendan, play for Marina.

‘I’m missing that, too,’ Holmes said. ‘It’s pretty frustrating.... I’m not in any real danger, it’s just a case of being smart about when to come back and make sure everything is right.’

To see what Holmes is sometimes missing, check out this YouTube video from the night Marina set a national record with 97 three-point attempts and a state-record 29 made.

-- Martin Henderson