Coach Alagozyan returns to rebuild VNHS baseball

When Coach Gary Alagozyan stepped back onto the Van Nuys High School campus in June 2024, nostalgia washed over him.

The familiar scent of freshly cut grass mingled with the distant echoes of laughter and footsteps in the hallways. This was his alma mater– the place where he had once sprinted across the baseball field, the place where the crack of a baseball bat had echoed against the afternoon sky.

He had walked these same paths as a student, full of dreams and determination. After graduating in 1989, he returned as an assistant coach, pouring his heart into shaping young athletes just as his mentors had shaped him. And now, decades later, he was back again.

However, once a proud program when he was here in 1991, Van Nuys baseball was struggling. The facilities were in poor shape, the team lacked resources and morale was low. But Coach Alagozyan wasn’t ready to let the program fade.

With a long history at Van Nuys High School, Coach Alagozyan is determined to restore the program’s former glory by winning a city championship and producing college level athletes alongside Head Coach Andres Sepulveda.

Coach Alagozyan started coaching because of a passion for sports, but he was looking for either a professional or college-level position.
When his alma mater offered him the opportunity to coach, he eagerly accepted.

He began his career coaching junior varsity football in 1991.

He was here for about four years, then made the decision in 1995 to leave in support of the varsity baseball Coach Bill Gordon who was being wrongfully displaced. This was due to a coach transferring from University High School and replacing Gordan.

“After I left, I ended up going to Harvard Westlake and coached there for two seasons,” he explained. “Then I went to Garfield High School to coach varsity baseball, after that I went to East Los Angeles.”

Before leaving, Coach Alagozyan believed the program was in good shape.

“If I were to rank the condition that I left the teams in one through 10 I’d give it an eight. I left it in a pretty good position to succeed.”

After gaining experience at various schools, Coach Alagozyan returned to Van Nuys in 2000. For nearly a decade, he helped develop the school’s football program, then he stepped away again to focus on his family.

“I made my miraculous comeback at Van Nuys High School in the year 2000,” he said. “I coached JV football and was the assistant varsity football coach all the way until 2008 and then left when I had my son Connor. Now I’m returning once more because of him.”

Coach Alagozyan is now’s the assistant coach for the baseball team. He felt joy in seeing how much the football program had improved.

But when he stepped back on the baseball field, he was disappointed.

“The condition of the baseball field and the program itself was heartbreaking. The head coach was working hard, but there just wasn’t enough support from the school or the district.”

Now that he’s back, he hopes he can work closely with Head Coach Sepulveda and led his expertise to improve the program.

“Myself and the head coach are working hard to put the pieces back together to make the program one step stronger every day, ” he shared.

Coach Alagozyan has noticed differences in today’s athletes, compared to his players in the early 2000s.

“Athletes today are more advanced in the knowledge of the game compared to what it was 20 years ago,” he said. “The other difference is that the approach to the higher level of baseball has changed completely.”

A tradition that he wishes to bring back to the sports programs at Van Nuys is the winning culture that the school had in the 1980’s, where championships were being won on the regular.

“A tradition that I want to bring is going to the city championship and winning it all,” Coach Alagozyan said. “That’s something that I didn’t have an opportunity to do at Van Nuys, but I did have an opportunity to win at Garfield High School in 1995 where we won the city championship for baseball. 
So we’d like to bring that winning tradition back here, because it is always the same kind of athletes, they’re all young kids that want to win and we’re trying to get that mentality going with the baseball program.”

Despite all the challenges, he remains motivated, not just by the pursuit of championships, but by the impact he has on his players beyond the field.

“My fondest memories of coaching are being able to make great human beings and good men out of the students,” he concluded. “They’re all good kids at this point and I’m really proud of being able to be a part of this family at Van Nuys. Go Wolves!”