Posts by Pat MacAdams
Jolene Burdick
Jolene Burdick Biography
MEET JOLENE
Jolene coached in the 15 Elite age group for two seasons and the 12’s age group at Forza1 for four seasons. She also assisted the 12UA team at the 2017 Festival. She enjoys building the fundamentals of young players which you can see in her attention to detail on the court.
Jolene teaches Physical Education at GOHS. At Great Oak, she is the girls JV coach and the head coach of the new Boys Volleyball program. She loves coaching and spending time with her players. She focuses on the importance of teamwork and mental toughness and tries to pass on the positive experiences she had growing up playing volleyball.
Jolene grew up watching her brother and sisters play volleyball and developed a passion for the game. She was raised in Wildomar and attended Elsinore High School. There, she had the privilege of playing volleyball for Chip Roberson and other inspiring coaches. She was a setter and defensive specialist throughout her high school career.
Jolene attended BYU-Hawaii for two years and finished her undergrad at BYU Provo. She graduated with a degree in Health Science. She also completed her Masters in Educational Administration at Concordia University. Jolene is the proud mother of two beautiful girls, Luana and Leah, who also play at Forza1.
Gretchen Johnson
Gretchen Johnson’s Biography
Gretchen was introduced to Forza in 2016 when her oldest daughter first played volleyball on the Elementary School League. Seeing her daughter’s passion for the sport, it inspired her to get involved with coaching. The 2017-2018 club season was her first year as an assistant and head coach. In 2018/2019 she head coached the 13 Elite Red team and assisted on the 11UA team. She is also a coach for our Forza For All School Leagues. In 2019/2020 she head coached 13 Elite and coached the 12UA team.
Playing Experience
Gretchen started playing volleyball her Freshman year at Cope Jr. High in Redlands, CA. Not seeing much court time her first year, she was motivated to improve as she enjoyed volleyball. After receiving Most Improved Player 3 years in a row and making all Citrus Belt League her Senior year, she continued her volleyball career in Hempstead, NY where she received a full scholarship at Hofstra University. As a middle blocker she had many achievements such as being ranked in the NCAA Division 1 for service aces, making the America East Conference 1st Team, and receiving All Tournament at University of Kentucky and American University. During her time on Long Island, Gretchen would help coach the local volleyball summer camps and get children excited about volleyball. She graduated Hofstra in 2000 with Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.
Gale Johnson
Gale Johnson’s Biography
MEET GALE
Gale has been a volleyball player and coach for the past 23 years. She is also the Varsity coach at Chaparral High School. In 2015, Gale was the head coach of Forza1 14-1s that finished 11th overall in SCVA and 5th at Regionals. Along the way they finished 6th at the Fiesta Classic and 5th at the Volleyball Festival. In 2016, Gale head coached the 14-1 team where they competed in the Gold division of SCVA battling with the best and won a bronze medal at the 2017 USA Nationals! In 2018 she assisted the 15UA team to 15th place in SCVA! In 2018 Gale helped coach the 12UA team. In 2019/2020 she helped coach 13UA. Gale has 3 daughters that play at Forza1. Her twin daughters Morgan and Liz both will be playing college ball in the fall; Morgan at BYU and Liz at St Rose in Albany.
Gale’s club coaching career began in Utah as a top 15s and 16s Elite coach. After a few years, Gale took a break to start a family and then recently rejoined the coaching ranks here in Temecula as a local coach. It didn’t take long for Gale to return to the Elite level though and in 2014 she head coached a 13-1s to a 5th place finish at the JO Qualifier in Anaheim and a 9th place finish at the VB Festival.
Gale was an All-American volleyball player at BYU and in college she was a four year starter and only the third player in BYU history to record more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. Some of her other awards include: AVCA All-American, ’96 Volleyball Magazine All-American, 1996 WAC Player of the Year, ’96 WAC Tournament MVP, and was 1st Team All-WAC and Academic All-WAC multiple years. In 1993, Gale started as a freshman on BYU’s Final Four Team. To advance to the Final Four, her team beat #1 UCLA at UCLA in straight sets. Gale led both teams in kills that match as a freshman.
Before college Gale attended Diamond Bar High School. While at DBHS she was MVP of the Sierra League, All-Inland Valley and All-CIF. Gale’s high school inducted her into the Hall of Fame.
After BYU, Gale played professionally for the Utah Predators and began her coaching career as the Head Volleyball Coach at American Fork High School. At AFHS, she taught History and Government, and earned a Masters Degree in Teaching (MAT) from Grand Canyon University.
Liana Poyer
Liana started at Forza last year 2017 helping to coach elementary league teams. I am excited to be able to continue to work with young players this upcoming season. I enjoy helping and watching young players get excited and motivated to learn and play the game of volleyball.
I have been playing volleyball since I was about 8 years old with my younger sister and dad and have continued to play and coach throughout the years continuously learning and enjoying the game of volleyball. I was a 3 sport athlete in high school but ultimately volleyball was the one I continued to pursue after high school. Afterwards I played for two years at Louisburg College and finished at NC Wesleyan College.
I currently have been serving in the Air Force reserves for about 10 years and love my job. I also love being a mother to my two amazing kids.
Ed Taitano
MEET ED
Ed Taitano is our Boys Club Director and in our first year as a club he helped to build 5 teams from ages 12-18 and 8 teams in 2017 and it continues to grow each year. In 2018 Ed also coached a 14 Elite girls team. In 2019 he helped coach the 18 Elite girls team and also coached the boys 16 Elite team. In 2019/20 he continued his duties with the boys and also helped coach multiple girls elite teams. From the beginning of Forza1, Ed T has been part of the grass roots group that committed to making boys volleyball a reality and spearheaded the development of the game in the Temecula and Murrieta areas.
Ed T helped to direct and manage all of our teams in 2015 to present and he also head-coached the boys 16-1s and 18 National teams. Ed T has been coaching in the valley since 2007 for girls’ high school and club teams. He is going on his third year as Varsity Girls coach at Vista Murrieta HS. He is also one of two coaches to coach the valley’s first boy’s Middle School Volleyball League.
Prior to Ed T’s coaching experience in the valley, he coached various men’s club, boys’ high school and boys and girls middle school teams on the island of Guam.
Ed T is a volleyball enthusiast and you can see it in how he brings people to the game and is always looking to get on the court. In year 1 at Forza1 his “Team Badu” won the Adult League 2x!
As a player since the age of 12, Ed T has played in numerous indoor and outdoor tournaments, including the annual “Men’s Haili Invitational” (Hilo, Hawaii). Ed T has received the all-tournament selection at “Slamfest ’96” and “AAFB ‘99” Tournaments on Guam. In high school, he received honorable mentioned for boys’ volleyball and all-island selection as a middle blocker.
Bob Jensen
Bob Jensen’s Biography
MEET BOB
Robert “Bob” Jensen has been coaching club volleyball for the past 17 years all over San Diego County, Orange County, and Riverside County. He coached the 18 National team at Forza1 in 2017/2018 aND 17 National team in 2018/2019. In 2019/2020 he coached our 16 Elite BLack team. He finished 17th in the Nation with his boys team in 2012. He also has coached High school for about 18 years, always made playoffs with Hemet boys, and went to semi-finals of division 3. He played college volleyball at Palomar College. He got recruited to play at The University of La Verne as an opposite and libero, but the school decided to cut the program the year he transferred.
Bob eventually graduated from CSU San Bernardino with a degree in Kinesiology so that he could teach physical education. He is teaching in Palm Springs Unified School District and recently earned his Master’s in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University. He has coached and mentored many college bound athletes and looks to add more to his list here at Forza!!
Renee Horton
Renee Horton Rizzuto’s Biography
MEET RENEE
Renee has been with Forza1 from the start and continues to make a great impact on and off the court. In 2018 she was the head coach for the 13UA team who ranked 11th in all of SCVA. In 2019/2020 she coached our 14UA team. Congratulations to Renee on her recent marriage to Gabe Rizzuto!
Renee began her coaching career as an assistant coach to her mom Kim at Elsinore High School. In 2013, Renee took over the program as Head Varsity Coach and is headed into her fourth season with the Tigers. Renee has been coaching club for many years. In the 2015 season she was the assistant coach on Forza1 16-1s. Prior to that she worked with mostly older age group teams including 17-1s and 16-1s teams, but also 14s teams. In 2016 Renee was the head coach of the 17-1 team. In 2017, Renee head coached our 13UA team withe Coach Landi where they finished 10th in SCVA! Renee continues to run volleyball school classes at Forza1. In 2018 Renee coached on our 16UA team that won a bronze medal in USA at USA Nationals in Indianapolis.
Renee is a very good technical coach and is terrific with helping to develop young female athletes. She comes from a strong lineage of great coaches starting with her mom Kim and continuing on through college. Renee is looking forward to giving back to the great community of players we have in this area.
PLAYING CAREER
Renee started her volleyball career playing at the young age of nine and quickly found passion for the sport while playing under her mom, Kim Horton. As a young athlete Renee spent time in the middle and outside positions, then while playing on her 16’s team she began setting and never looked back. Renee was a part of many successful club teams; including festival champions in both her 14 and 16 years.
Renee graduated from Elsinore High School in 2007 after playing Varsity all four seasons. While at Elsinore, her team won league all four years and was CIF runner-up her senior season. Renee was an All-League selection all four seasons, and was named to the All-Area team in her sophomore, junior and senior years. In her senior season, she was Athlete of the Year at Elsinore, league MVP and she earned an All CIF selection.
In college, Renee played as a setter at Loyola Marymount University. While playing she was named All-WCC honorable mention twice and was named to All-WCC Freshman team. Renee left LMU ranked third in all-time assists after just two seasons. At that time she transferred to Concordia University in Irvine where she led her teams to 4th and 8th place finishes at NAIA Nationals. In 2011, she graduated with her degree in Liberal Studies and later earned her Teaching Credential in Special Education.
Debbie Heckmann
Debbie Heckmann’s Bio
Debbie began playing volleyball in the 8thgrade, fell in love with the sport, and knew it was something she wanted to pursue. During her high school years, she was a 4-year varsity athlete, captain of her team, and named MVP of the Sunkist League 2 of the 4 years. She also played club volleyball for OCVBC and helped her team win multiple national titles in the Open Division at both the Festival tournament and JO’s. Her senior year she made Volleyball Monthly Magazines Fab 50 list for the class of 1989. Debbie went on to receive a full ride scholarship to Pepperdine University as a middle blocker where she became an impact player. Debbie was Pepperdine’s Yearly Individual Leader in 1989, 90, and 91 for highest hitting percentage. During her time as a Wave she was named West Coast Conference’s Freshman of the Year, 2nd-Team All-WCC, and in 1991 she was named 1st-Team All-WCC.
Debbie has been married for over 21 years to Matt and together they have two children, Mekenzi and Blake. She has enjoyed being a stay at home mom and raising their children. Now that they are older, coaching feels like the natural next step. Mekenzi will be a freshman volleyball player at Southern Methodist University in the Fall. Debbie is excited to be a part of the Forza family and share her knowledge with the next generation of volleyball players. In 2018/2019 she coached a High School Local team. She is also coaches in the Middle School Volleyball league. In 2019/2020 she coached our 15 Elite Gold team.
Carlos Gonzales
Carlos Gonzales’s Bio
Hello my name is Carlos Gonzalez. I am a USMC veteran and I’ve been coaching for over 12 years in multiple sports. I’ve coached football, soccer and volleyball for kids of all ages. I’ve been coaching SCVA volleyball for the last 8 years and have fallen in love with the sport. I coach many different levels from elementary, middle school, local and elite level. I’ve been playing volleyball for over 12 years and have competed in many adult leagues. Coaching is something I’m very passionate about. I sincerely believe that sports keep children on the right path in life. I’m looking forward to getting the opportunity to be a part of your children’s future.
In 2018/2019 Carlos head coaches the 10U Local team who finished 6th place in the 12 Club division at VolleyFest and the 13 Local Gold team! He also has four daughters that play on top teams at Forza1! His daughter Sarena recently committed to play college at SDSU! In 2019/2020 Carlos coached the 10u local team and the 14Elite Gold team!
Iggy Gamboa
Iggy Gamboa
MEET IGGY
Iggy inspires players to improve and love the game. He has been with Forza from the start. In 2016-2020 Iggy coached a 14 Elite team and a 14 Local team in 2018 that finished 12th in the Open division at Volleyfest. He also coaches HS local teams. In 2015 Iggy and his wife co-coached a 14 local team and filled their team with knowledge and passion for playing the game with both skill and a competitive spirit. Iggy also coaches in the Forza 4 All Middle School league.
Mia his wife also helps at Forza. She started playing volleyball in middle school and continued to play throughout high school. She then started coaching and spent three years coaching at Silverado High School level. She has coached at Rancho Bella Vista Recreation Center as well as Cobalt Middle School and simply loves the game and getting the opportunity to coach.
Iggy grew up in Venezuela, South America and started playing volleyball at a young age. He also played in high school and for the United States Marine Team. Along the way, Iggy was fortunate to have the opportunity to play with and against members of the Venezuelan National Team. As a lifetime player, Iggy loves to share the spirit of the game with the teams he coaches.