“Honestly, I will coach at Hillsdale until I die,” Hodzic said. “I realized last year I can’t leave coaching. I watch every game so why (kid myself)?

“I live, like, two blocks from Hillsdale. Why not help these kids?”

Not only is he coaching the Hillsdale water polo program, he will be back with the boys’ varsity soccer team for a third stint. Every time he takes the Knights to the top of the heap, they get knocked down after he leaves and Hodzic is there to pick up the pieces and lead the Knights back to championships.

Hodzic is an expert at revitalizing programs. In 2004, he was the third coach in three years for the Hillsdale boys’ soccer team. Not only did the Knights win the Peninsula Athletic League’s Ocean Division, they advanced to the Central Coast Section semifinals. That same season, Hodzic led the Knights’ boys’ water polo team to the Ocean Division title.

“That’s just how it worked out,” Hodzic said.

Last season, he was an assistant for the Hillsdale girls’ soccer team. The Lady Knights went on to win their first Ocean Division title in at least eight or nine years. Coincidence?

Hodzic has also been a fixture for the Hillsdale track team, specializing in high jump, long jump and triple jump.

To say sports and coaching is in his blood would be an understatement. During his college years in his native Bosnia, Hodzic majored in physical education.

“Over there, they teach you how to teach and coach every sport,” Hodzic said. Soccer, water polo, volleyball, team handball and track and field were all sports he learned. He later was a professional soccer player and coach, as well as a top distance runner during his youth.

Hodzic came to the United States in 1986 and started looking for a good neighborhood to raise his kids. He found it in Hillsdale’s attendance area. His daughter, Aida, came to the United States from Bosnia at the age of 14 and graduated from Hillsdale in 1998. She is now a vice principal and head track coach at Monte Vista High-Danville. His son, Renato, graduated in 2005 and earned a water polo scholarship to University of the Pacific. A shoulder injury has all but ended his water polo career but Andy Hodzic said Renato is doing very well in school.

After Renato graduated from Hillsdale, Hodzic went into semi-retirement from coaching. He gave up the water polo and soccer programs (but stayed on for track) but remained a fixture at Hillsdale sporting events. He thought he would travel — which he has, spending time in Vietnam and taking Renato to the European Cup soccer tournament during the summer — but there was something missing.

“I really love the kids and sometimes I feel I can’t leave them,” Hodzic said.

Last year, the Hillsdale principal was transferred to San Mateo. The school needed a water polo coach and the principal called Hodzic to help out. Which he did, although he felt like a fish out of water.

“When I was at San Mateo, I felt strange,” Hodzic said.

Now, he’s back home. To stay.

“I feel Hillsdale is my family. Both my kids went here,” Hodzic said. “I’m a water polo referee on the weekends. I was at Woodside and they said they needed a new water polo coach. I see this beautiful pool and everything, but no. Hillsdale is my family.”

Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.