At Bonita Vista High School, Gary was the leading scorer and a 1st team All-Metropolitan League basketball player in his senior season. He also played as the #2 man on the boy’s golf team in both his junior and senior seasons. After attending and playing basketball at Westmont College in his freshman year, Gary transferred to California State University at Northridge. While attending CSUN, Gary coached the Ventura County Boys Basketball 12 and under All-Star teams and during the 1978 season they won the Golden State Boys Basketball State Championship. Gary graduated from CSUN in 1979 earning a Bachelor of Social Science degree and a teaching credential 2 years later.
In April of 1981, Gary became the Director of Golf and Head Golf Professional at Sunset Hills Country Club. In 1985 Gary earned PGA Class A-1 status and in 1987 he qualified and played in the PGA National Club Professional Championship held in La Quinta, California.
In 1991, Gary returned to the field of education and in 1993 was hired as a social studies teacher at Thousand Oaks High School. In 1992, Gary began coaching boys basketball at Newbury Park High School at the Frosh/Soph and Junior Varsity levels and was also an assistant Varsity coach for the 1993-1994 season. In 1994, Gary was hired by Anna Merriman as the Head Varsity Softball Coach at Thousand Oaks High School and for the next 8 years Gary coached both basketball and softball at TOHS during the same school year.
From 1994 to 1998 Gary coached the Thousand Oaks High School frosh/soph boys basketball team and then in 1998 he became the Varsity assistant to Hall of Fame Coach Rich Endres. In 2001-02, the boys team went on to become Marmonte League Champions and CIF finalists. That same year, Gary became the Athletic Coordinator at Thousand Oaks High School. A year later, he left the boys basketball program, and in 2011 he took over as the Head Girls basketball coach and led them to their first Marmonte league title in 14 years and was named the Marmonte league coach of the year.
In 1994, Gary took over the softball program at Thousand Oaks High School from legendary Hall of Fame Coach, Chuck Brown. In 1997, Gary won the first of 9 Marmonte League Championships and was selected as the Ventura County Softball Coach of the Year. After receiving the Marmonte League Coach of the Year award in 1998, an honor he received 5 times, the Lancers ran off 4 consecutive Marmonte League Softball titles from 1999-2002. In 2001, the Lancers were not only Marmonte League Champions but also won the CIF Championship, with a 5-2 victory over California High School for the first softball title in school history. Gary was selected as the Region Coach of the Year, the CIF Coach of the Year and was Cal-Hi Sports Softball State Coach of the Year and the Lancers finished the season ranked 3rd in the state and 11th in the country. From 1997 to 2009, the Lancers won 9 Marmonte titles in 13 years in a league that was often referred to as the toughest and most competitive softball league in California. Gary retired from coaching softball and basketball in 2013 to become the Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at Thousand Oaks High School. In his twenty-year tenure as the softball coach of the Lancers, he complied an overall record of 403 wins, and 172 losses and 6 ties, traveling all over the United States to play in the most challenging tournaments and compete against the best teams in the country.
Gary and his wife Beverly, the girl next door, have been married for 34 years. And yes, Gary’s and Beverly’s parents still live next door to each other! They have three beautiful daughters, Kristina, Kari and Haley, son-in-law Tim and grandson, Ethan.