#30: Malia Shoji and Benjamin Kaufman

On Coaching and Starting a Family

Malia Shoji is the lead assistant volleyball coach for the University of Utah, a Division I school in the PAC-12 conference. She’s helped lead Utah to one of it’s most successful stretches in school history, with multiple trips to the Sweet 16.

Benjamin Kaufman is an assistant coach for Westminster College Men’s Basketball, a division II school in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Before moving to Westminster, Kaufman was an assistant at Western Oregon and Regis University, leading both teams to the NCAA tournament and helping Regis win its first conference championship in school history.

Ben and Malia are married and live in Utah with their young daughter, and I speak with them about how they balance their passion for coaching and helping young people with starting a new family. We discuss Ben and Malia’s “meet cute”, the unique challenges of the coaching path, how to “network” the right way, what they look for when recruiting new players, the challenges of modern athletic culture, and more.

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