The following story appeared in the Fall/Winter Issue of Cal Poly Pomona's Panorama magazine, a resource for alumni and friends of the university...

By Ivan Alber | BroncoAthletics.com

POMONA, Calif. - A coach's lessons in technique and strategy can last a season, but the lessons that influence an athletes' character can last a lifetime.

Four members of the Cal Poly Pomona Athletics Hall of Fame say their coaches were superb mentors who inspired them to seek careers that touch others' lives.

Softball stars Barbara Reinalda and Suzy Brazney played for head coach Carol Spanks, who led the Broncos to eight appearances in the College World Series during her 15 years at the university starting in 1978. Spanks and assistant coach Shirley Topley guided the team on and off the field.

"Both Carol and Shirley taught you the right way to play," Brazney says. "Always play hard, never trash talk. Go about your business and do your thing. And then, for sure, always give back to the game and the community."

Today, Brazney is the head coach at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, while Reinalda serves as the associate head coach at Yale.

Another Hall of Fame member who is involved in coaching is Darrell Miller, who earned baseball All-American honors in 1979 before being drafted by the then California Angels and playing five seasons in the big leagues.

One of the monumental steps in Miller's baseball journey came when, as a recruit, he arrived at the Cal Poly Pomona campus for his first meeting with renowned coach John Scolinos.

"I had never met anyone like him," Miller says. "The way he looked at me, it just seemed like he was a really calm person. He spoke very clearly and powerfully. My spirit connected with his and I just knew that's where I was supposed to be, at Cal Poly Pomona."

Now serving as Major League Baseball's vice president of youth and facility development, Miller has been a guiding force behind the league's Urban Youth Academy, which provides free instruction at four baseball academies in underserved communities.

"Coach Scolinos taught us the three C's: class, character and concern," Miller says. "It's about showing class in all situations, having character and then showing concern for those around you. Those three things have always carried me."

The Broncos' first Hall of Fame class, inducted in 1986, included Sue Gozansky, who played six sports — two per quarter.

"I was honored to be inducted because I had such a great experience at Cal Poly Pomona," Gozansky says. "Lorelee Miller [who was an MVP in six sports from 1961 to 1965] was in the same induction class. I always thought she was the greatest athlete, so it was a special honor to be inducted alongside her."

Dorothy Kiefer, the first female professor in the university's kinesiology department, coached Gozansky in tennis and basketball and had a lasting impact: Gozansky guided the volleyball team at UC Riverside to three national championships in a career lasting almost four decades.

"We became great friends after my time at Cal Poly, and she was an important role model for me," Gozansky says. "I'll always remember going to her house with the team for pizza after games and spending time with her family."

For Reinalda, Brazney, Miller and Gozansky, the Bronco teams turned into a second family through all the tough practices and long road trips.

"I learned a lot from my coaches at Cal Poly," Reinalda says. "They spent a lot of time getting to know the student-athletes and figuring out what style of coaching worked for each individual. When they told me I'd make a good coach, I knew I could trust that they knew what they were talking about."

The Evening of Champions
Just as the Hall of Fame members developed deep and lasting relationships with their mentors, they formed lifelong friendships with fellow inductees. The Homecoming and Family Weekend on Feb. 7-8 will be a reunion for the university's greatest athletes, who will be re-inducted and will welcome a new class of honorees at an "Evening of Champions."

"The greatest part of Homecoming will be to sit around with teammates and rehash the time we spent together at Cal Poly Pomona," says Barbara Reinalda, who was inducted into the university's Hall of Fame in 1992. "Through all of the different activities scheduled for that weekend, the most memorable part for me will be to enjoy the company of my former teammates.

Homecoming and Family Weekend activities include a bonfire and ice skating after the induction ceremonies on Feb. 7. The Broncos baseball program — national champions in 1976, 1980 and 1983 — will host Dixie State on Feb. 8 at noon on Scolinos Field. Nearby, the Homecoming Festival will get underway at 1 p.m.

After the festival, fans and alumni will pack Kellogg Gym to watch the Broncos basketball teams host conference rival Cal State East Bay in a doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m. The women's basketball program owns five of the Broncos' 14 national titles.  The men's squad, which finished last season with a record of 28-3, captured its first Division II championship in 2010.

To learn more about the weekend or to nominate someone for the induction into the Hall of Fame, visit www.broncoathletics.com/hof.