On their way to a state semifinals appearance, the 2011 Chandler boys volleyball team decided to make a statement, not on the court but on their heads.

Since the baseball players bleached their hair, Bobby Robson, Nathan Saunders, Erik Clapp and the rest of the team decided to shave just the top of their heads, creating the “cul-de-sac” haircut.

 Little did they know that five years later all three would be coaching together, back at their alma mater.

Robson, 24, is now entering his first year as the coach of the Wolves girls volleyball team after leading their boys team for the last four years. The 2017-2018 season is considered the best year in the boys history.

That year the Wolves went 31-5-4 and made it to the state semifinals as the No. 2 seed. Robson was awarded with Men’s Coach of the Year from the AIA 6A and azcentral.com along with his team earning the America Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award.

While Robson’s young career is already impressive, the most remarkable aspect of the Chandler program is its coaching staff and its ties to the school.

Robson, his assistant coach Saunders and freshman assistant and boys JV coach Clapp all played together at Chandler from 2008-2011, reaching the 5A semifinals in 2011.

Robson and Saunders graduated in 2011 and Clapp graduated a year later. They all played and learned under coach Tracey Rodarte, who is the freshman coach at, you guessed it, Chandler.

Not only are the coaches at Chandler colleagues, they’re more.

 “I’m super blessed to work with people that are family to me,” Robson said. “It makes being able to manage [coaching] a lot more fun.”

Robson has a lot of coaching to manage. He also coaches Arizona Fear Club Volleyball, which many consider one of the best club teams in Arizona.

It was never a secret what Robson wanted to do and where he wanted his life to be.

“With coach Robson, he always knew he wanted to coach,” Saunders said. “He had his life planned out.”

However, for the rest of his staff, the path to Chandler was an unexpected one.  

“When I choose to play volleyball the last thing I thought it would lead to would be coaching, let alone at my alma mater,” Clapp said. “And it’s probably one of the best decisions I ever made.”

Part of the reason most of the coaching staff is even at Chandler is their former coach and colleague Tracey Rodarte.

Rodarte has been coaching on-and-off for the past 20 years. She obviously made her impact.

“We owe a lot to her,” Robson said. “None of us would be here if it wasn’t for her”  

Seeing all of her former players now in the position she once held stuck a cord with Rodarte.

“It makes me proud,” Rodarte explained with a tear in her eye. “It’s awesome that I actually touched their lives enough to have them coach.”

Even though it’s a non-blood family affair for the program, there is no lack of intensity and dedication when it comes to working. Or, in Robson’s words, “evolving.”

While the boys team has seen success during Robson’s career, the girls team has not been as fortunate.

After ending last year 17-14 (0-8 in section), the Wolves came in to this year looking for a turnaround then assistant coach Robson.

This year the girls are 6-5 and looking to improve in their first year under the Robson and Saunders tandem.

However, they know that turnaround won’t happen overnight.

“We are looking to get better every year,” Saunders said. “Our goal this year is to get in to the top 16 and make the playoffs.”

Throughout the rebuild of the girls team and the continuation of the success with the boys team, Robson and the rest of the staff not only have other coaches to rely on. They have a family.