Fred Hokanson: Track master

Tony Altobelli

Before men walked on the moon, Fred Hokanson was a part of Orange

Coast College athletics, both as an athlete and as a coach.

Thirty-plus years later, Hokanson still feels pretty happy to be a part

of the Pirate tradition.

“I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I do,” Ho kansonsaid.

“With the exception of running your own business, I have the best job in

town.”

Hokanson played football and track at Huntington Beach High for three

years before being switched to Westminster High for his senior year. “The

district split after my junior year and some of us ended up at

Westminster,” Hokanson said. “I’ve always wondered just how good the

football and track teams would have been if we all stayed together my

senior year.”

From there, Hokanson went to Orange Coast and played football and

competed in all throwing events, before transferring to UC Santa Barbara.

“My football career came to an end due to a back injury, but I still

competed in track,” Hokanson said. “I competed in the discus, shot put,

javelin and hammer throw.”

In the hammer throw, Hokanson earned two medals in the NCAA Sectionals,

placing fourth and fifth during his collegiate career.

After working as a coach at Westminster High following college, Hokanson

landed a job at OCC in 1969. “They were looking for a track and field

coach and I jumped at the opportunity,” Hokanson said.

Coaching was not necessarily on the top of Hokanson’s list of employment

endeavors. “I always thought I was going to work in the science field in

come capacity,” he said. “When I was at UCSB, my friends were all going

into coaching. It just happened to turn out that way for me, too.”

Wrapping up his 31st season as the Pirates’ track skipper, Hokanson has

been able to guide some of the better athletes in the area. “I’ve been

fortunate to have been a part of so many young people’s lives,” Hokanson

said. “Kids like Sheldon Blockburger, Craig Glicken as well as current

athletes like Travis Vandrovec and Nicole Hansen. It’s been a real

pleasure.”

Now entering his fifth decade of coaching, Hokanson has learned a few

valuable pointers for coaching at the community college level. “You never

know who is on your team until you see them in your uniform competing for

your school,” Hokanson said. “I’ve learned to be more patient and to be

more understanding with what’s going on in the kids’ lives.”

Hokanson uses a very simple philosophy for coaching; the truth. “I tell

my athletes to be honest with themselves and to be honest with me,” he

said. “Be committed to what you’re trying to accomplish and know that I’m

here to help.”

Along with Hokanson, OCC has put together a strong cast of track coaches

with Mike Taylor, John Goldman and Gordie Fitzel. “It’s like we’re all

pieces to the puzzle,” Hokanson said. “We try to do what’s best for the

entire team by coaching to our strengths.”

Hokanson lives in Costa Mesa with his wife of 33 years, Judy, and has two

children, Jeffrey, 26, and Kelly, 22, both UCSB graduates.

“We still live in our first-ever house,” he said with a laugh. “We bought

way over our head, but now we’re hanging in there.”