Kang resigns as coach at Iolani

Advertiser Staff

Ann Kang, who has headed Iolani School's girls volleyball program since its inception in 1979, has stepped down from her position as varsity head coach because of health concerns.

Kang has been fighting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a life-threatening and incurable neurodegenerative affliction commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," for the past 18 months. The disease attacks nerve cells and pathways in the brain and spinal cord, and results in loss of muscle control and movement.

Kang, a former University of Hawai'i volleyball player, is in the advanced stages of the disease and recently has been confined to a wheelchair. She also has resigned her teaching position at Iolani's physical education department, where she has worked for the past 25 years.

Kang, whose twin son and daughter are Iolani freshmen, still is on campus often and recently attended the school's May Day program.

"She feels she can't keep doing it (coaching), but she'll still be involved in the program as much as she's able," Iolani athletic director Carl Schroers said.

Schroers added the annual Iolani Preseason Classic, one of the state's largest high school volleyball tournaments, will go on as scheduled in August. Kang initiated the tournament in 1983 and has run it ever since.

"It's still on, and we'll have 10 teams coming in from the Mainland," Schroers said. "We think it's important to the volleyball community."

Kang was the Advertiser's State Coach of the Year in 2001 after guiding the Raiders to their first state championship. She also has coached basketball, softball and swimming at Iolani since the school went co-educational in 1979.