Bird Takes Flight as Agoura Girls’ Volleyball Coach

The team he inherited will be missing five of the six starters that helped Agoura High reach the Southern Section 3-A final in girls’ volleyball last season, but new coach Mike Bird is optimistic about the future after watching the Chargers compete in a summer league match.

“It’s real nice to walk into a successful program, but it puts a little pressure on me,” said Bird, who was hired in May after Steve Gazzaniga left to coach the women’s team at Pierce College. “I think the best thing about what I’ve seen is the team’s attitude. We should be pretty good.”

Bird, 23, was an assistant coach for the Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball team last season. He played volleyball at Calabasas High and CSUN. He will not have a teaching position at Agoura.

“He’s a very good teacher and he’s great with people,” Northridge Coach John Price said. “He made the transition from player to assistant coach in one season smoother than anyone I have ever seen.”

Bird, who lives in Canyon Country, will pursue his teaching credential at Cal Lutheran in the fall and hopes to student teach at Agoura in the spring. He also is a candidate to coach the boys’ volleyball program that will begin at Agoura next year.