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SMBC Coaching Staff

Nabil Mardini

Nabil Mardini

Club Director
SMBC Boys Club Owner
Boys & Girls Club Director
18-1 Head Coach
Head Coach of 18’s Division


Nabil moved into the coaching ranks shortly after the completion of his playing career and swiftly made a mark for himself, earning a Gold Medal at the Junior Olympics as a coach with the SMBC boys program. He coached for both the boys and girls of SMBC before joining the girls exclusively as Club Director in 2000. Nabil is the current Head Women’s Volleyball Coach at Pierce College, where his team has won the Western State Conference SEVEN years in a row and has made it to the Elite Eight Tournament the last three years in a row. His Lady Brahmas finished second in the state in 2006. He was named his conference’s “Coach of the Year” in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007.

Nabil is credited as the driving force behind the recent rise of SMBC as a regional and national club volleyball powerhouse. Under his leadership more than sixty SMBC athletes have gone on to play collegiate volleyball, the vast majority on scholarship of some kind. During his tenure, he has revolutionized the SMBC training systems and is responsible for the institution of swing blocking and quick-tempo offensive systems at top age levels.

As coach of SMBC’s top team, the 18-1’s, he has guided the squad to four Top Ten finishes at the Volleyball Festival in Reno in five years. In 2006, the SMBC 18-1’s finished fourth in the ultra-competitive and nationally regarded powerhouse SCVA 18’s Overall Standings (out of 173 teams), by far the best finish of any area club that season. His gutsy 2007 squad knocked-off several high seeds en route to a 10th place finish at the Festival.

He returns again in 2008 as coach of the powerful SMBC 18-1’s and as Club Director EMAIL NABIL

Trevor Julian

Trevor Julian

16-1 Coach
16’s Division Head Coach


Former NCAA Division I men’s volleyball standout Trevor Julian returns as coach of the powerful and highly successful 16-1’s for 2008.

An alumnus of the SMBC boys program, Trevor (’97) has seen success and earned accolades as a player across multiple levels: he set statistical records and earned several All-Area and All-CIF honors at Harvard-Westlake High School, accolades enough to earn induction into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame; he spent two years training with the USA Junior National Team and saw international competition as captain of the 1997 team; he earned a scholarship to the University of Southern California (USC) and was a four-year starter, team captain, and two-time All-American for the oft #1 ranked Trojans; and he was recruited out of college to train with USA National Team at the Olympic Facility in Colorado Springs, an offer he declined.

Bolstered by his exceptional reputation as a “player’s coach” among area coaches, players and parents, Trevor enters his seventh season with SMBC, where under his guidance the 16-1’s have enjoyed immense success. The Volleyball Festival has been a particularly strong stomping ground for the squad, which has logged five straight Sweet Sixteen finishes, three Top Eight finishes, a Top Five finish and wins over the #1 overall seeds in 2004 and 2007. The 16-1’s remains a consistent presence in Division One of the SCVA.

Trevor returns for his sixth season as coach of the SMBC 16-1’s with expectations for the success of that team as high as they have ever been. EMAIL TREVOR

Steven Chen

Steven Chen

14-1 Coach
14’s Division Head Coach


Coaching veteran Steven Chen brings his extensive volleyball history back to SMBC for an
eighth season. After starring as one of the area’s premier setters in high school and at Pierce College, Steven’s coaching career began in 1992 and has included a number of
positions at the club and high school levels: at Harvard-Westlake for both the Varsity boys and girls programs (where he earned six CIF titles and three State Championships), the Notre Dame High School Varsity teams, and with SMBC.

During his tenure Steve has coached a series of future USA Youth Team, Junior Team and National Team players, including Alexis Crimes (current Long Beach State All-American), Courtney Shultz (three-year starter at Stanford), and Trevor Julian (All-American at
USC, who coaches the SMBC 16-1’s). Professionally, he is an assistant Athletic Director at Harvard-Westlake.

Steven has coached every age level for SMBC. In 2007, he guided our little 13-1’s to a seventh place finish at the Volleyball Festival in Reno, the fourth straight year the squad has finished in the Sweet Sixteen. In 2008 Steve takes over as Head of the 14’s Division and coach of the 14-1’s. EMAIL STEVEN

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