Busy Schedule Is No Walk for Park : Volleyball: But coach of Thousand Oaks High and Cal Lutheran turns out winners at both.

THOUSAND OAKS — Blind dates don’t always work out, which is fine.

You split the bill, part ways and rent a favorite movie on the way home. No big deal.

Then there’s the blind date Thousand Oaks High volleyball coach James Park had in 1992.

Park was attending a local Korean-American church, when his pastor offered some perplexing advice.

“It doesn’t matter how many dates you have,” the pastor said. “Your (future) wife is in Korea.”

A tad confused, Park listened as the pastor told him of a woman in Korea who sounded perfect--if also geographically undesirable.

Park pondered. He wrote to the mystery woman and called her.

Then Park returned to his homeland, for the first time in 18 years, to see her.

They met amid a not-very romantic backdrop of a subway station.

But that didn’t matter to the future Kate Park.

“I knew he would be the man,” said Kate, who married James within a year. “The next day, I decided it in my mind.”

James Park always seems to defy the odds, especially with his hectic volleyball schedule.

Park coaches the Thousand Oaks boys’ team and, in the fall, guides the women’s team at Cal Lutheran University.

He also teaches math and tutors at Thousand Oaks. On the side, he offers individual volleyball lessons and coaches the Zuma Bay club volleyball team.

“If I sit down and try to evaluate it all,” Park said, “I’d probably be so overwhelmed I wouldn’t want to do it anymore.”

Last fall, in his second year at Cal Lutheran, he guided his team (20-9) to the final 16 in the NCAA Division III tournament.

The previous season, Cal Lutheran had a 14-13 record--its first winning campaign since 1987.

In his fifth year at Thousand Oaks, Park is attempting to take the Lancers to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive time.

The Lancers had a 1-15 record the year before his arrival.

“It’s a program now,” said Park, who also made a winner out of the Moorpark High girls’ team during his seven-year tenure there. “The schools that are going to be around for a while, I call them programs. Before, we had teams.”

Not to be forgotten is Cal Lutheran, which is steadily developing its own sense of “program.”

Park recruits for Cal Lutheran during the off-season and stays in contact with his players there. One of them, Darcy White, is the frosh/soph coach at Thousand Oaks.

“Family does come first,” said Park, who has a 6-month-old daughter, Sarah. “But I feel as if these kids are my family.”

Maybe that’s why his marriage to Kate had a bump, set, spike atmosphere to it.

The couple wed in Korea on Aug. 14, 1993. But few of their friends attended the ceremony, so after Kate moved to the United States the couple held a second wedding, on March 25, 1994, at Cal Lutheran.

Among the more than 200 people attending were nearly 50 past and present players.

The next day James and Kate left for their honeymoon in Las Vegas where, not coincidentally, Thousand Oaks was playing in a tournament.

Park played the dual role of coach and newlywed.

“My wife didn’t have any problem with it,” Park said. “You have to sacrifice some things and that was one of them.”

The Lancers won the 30-team tournament. “A good present,” Park said.

Park treats his teams to dinner if they win a tournament. There is also a day of golf, compliments of Park, before the annual alumni game at Thousand Oaks.

This year’s team, 5-3 in the competitive Marmonte League, has been inconsistent.

The Lancers lost three matches in a row so Park loosened up the practice atmosphere and began to lead stretching exercises. They defeated Channel Islands in their next match.

“He knew that everybody’s spirits were down, so he was the first to take charge and change things,” said David Sotolov, who coaches the Lancer junior varsity after playing for Park at Thousand Oaks last year. “Every single player that’s left the program has taken a part of him with them.”

They also take with them the essence of winning, which is important to Park.

“Society doesn’t handle losers too well,” Park said. “People talk about how winning isn’t everything, but why is the scoreboard up there? Being a winner is very important. If you’re a survivor, you’re going to survive out in society.”

While in high school Park, 31, worked at a Watts liquor store.

“It was hard core,” said Park, who moved to the United States with his parents in 1976. “People came in and took things right in front of you. They didn’t try to be sneaky.

“One time, I had to chase a kid down. (He) comes in the next day and says, ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It’s not worth it. You might get shot.’ ”

Park stuck with the job and remains just as fiercely obligated to his task today.

“I make sure the kids know I’m committed,” Park said. “I’m not saying I’m the best coach in the world, but I’m dedicated to it.”