BISHOP O'Dowd High School has
enjoyed much success in girls volleyball through
the years. The Dragons usually are competitive
in their league and have gone on to win North
Coast Section Division I titles in 1995, 1999
and 2002.
The 2002 squad was the most successful in
school history, advancing to the second round of
the California Interscholastic Federation
northern regional playoffs.
In the fall, the Dragons will look to have
another successful campaign (in Division III --
more on this later) with the return of many key
players. O'Dowd will have its coach back,
too.
Except that the coach has changed.
Girls volleyball coach Lisa Newman told her
team that she had trans-gendered. Lisa Newman,
41, had become Tim Newman.
"I got to a point in my life that I just had
to be myself," Newman said. "As a young adult,
it was way too much to handle. It took me this
long to finally be ready to handle this."
The question, though, was whether others
could handle Newman's decision.
After Newman told his team of his life
change, the word quickly spread.
"My team was very supportive from the start,"
Newman said. "The majority of the faculty has
been behind me all the way, too, though there
are a few who are struggling with it."
And as for the parents?
"Incredibly (supportive)," he said. "I
thought they would be, but they exceeded my
expectations."
Newman has received support and best wishes
from other coaches in the area, too. Newman's
own parents, who live in San Jose, as well as
his two sisters, have come to accept the gender
change. Still, professional concerns had to be
addressed, and Newman did not speak to the media
until renewing his contract at O'Dowd for the
2003-04 school year.
A few years ago, a case like Newman's might
have been less a concern at O'Dowd -- or at any
other Catholic high school in the Oakland
Diocese, for that matter.
O'Dowd serves both Catholic and non-Catholic
students, same as other Catholic schools. But
there's more. Overall, the Catholic high schools
of the Oakland Diocese are pretty progressive.
And O'Dowd might be the most progressive of
all.
Still, there were concerns. A new bishop,
Allen Vigneron, soon will take over the diocese
from retiring Bishop John Cummins. Vigneron
comes to the Oakland Diocese from Detroit, a
noted conservative hoping to lead an
increasingly progressive flock.
But Newman was undaunted.
"Transgendering, in general, means someone
identifies as male," he said. "For me to be
female would require dramatic acting."
Newman is not into drama (but does become
animated at times on the sidelines). Still, to
stay silent for as long as possible would have
been perhaps the easiest route. But it wasn't
the right route for Newman.
"For me, it was just a lie to go through this
and not let people know who I was," Newman said.
"I felt dishonest. I felt hypocritical to
emphasize being honest and open, especially in a
team setting, (and then to keep this quiet). The
best teams I've coached or have been on have
been successful because they were tight and
open. For me, (telling others of the
transgendering) was the right thing to do."
When O'Dowd volleyball starts again in the
fall, look for a familiar face on the bench. A
coach who will yell instructions to players over
the din of the crowd, one who will question
officials' decisions when he thinks those
decisions need questioning, one who will express
happiness -- and at times, the mildest hint of
disgust or chagrin -- yet seek to keep his team
on an even keel from one match to the next.
"This is certainly a place I've come to love
-- both for volleyball and then for teaching,"
said Newman, who recently completed his 12th
year at O'Dowd. "My original thinking was, 'I
can't handle this, I've got to leave.' But I
decided that for me, this is not a change. This
is who I've been all my life. I hope to be (at
O'Dowd) a long time. I love being here."
O'Dowd promises to have another successful
volleyball team in the fall.
And the team -- as well as the vast majority
at O'Dowd -- love having Tim Newman back as the
coach.
