In the world of competitive youth sports, there are countless examples of children being pushed too far.
Many young athletes get overworked trying to fulfill the unreasonable expectations of their parents, who have no qualms about jeopardizing familial bonds with unnecessary pressure.
Ed Machado was not one of those parents.
Sisters Jade and Jazmin Machado grew up in a household drenched in UCLA spirit, their connection to UCLA volleyball not only inherited but also skillfully taught.
Ed Machado played for the Bruins during his undergraduate years, helping UCLA to its first two NCAA men’s volleyball championships in 1970 and 1971.
Despite his vast depth of knowledge in the sport, Machado was not one to force his enthusiasm for volleyball on his children.
“We could have played any sport,” Jazmin Machado said. “We literally tried like every one. He was going to support us no matter what we chose to do.”
By letting the sisters decide what felt natural to them, Ed Machado was able to instruct them appropriately as determined players and not just as obligated daughters.
He also served as the sisters’ high school coach.
“He definitely kept it professional” on the court, Jazmin Machado said. “Half the time I would call him “˜Ed.’ Not that he was ignoring it, but he was just so in the zone of being the coach that it would be much more attention-getting than “˜Dad.'”
Ed Machado divided his responsibilities as a coach and as a father in order to protect his relationship with his daughters.
“In volleyball, he was strictly coach,” Jade Machado said. “We never got favored. If anything, he was harder on us. And then when we went home he was like dad, fun guy, just being your dad.”
As a senior at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Jade Machado was the San Diego Section player of the year on a team that won the 2004 section title. When it was time for her to make a decision about college, she weighed the forces of her family connection to UCLA along with her own perception of what was best for her.
“Growing up, my dad was always watching UCLA basketball, UCLA football, and taking us to UCLA volleyball games,” Jade said. “For a little while that was just the college that I always watched, but then as I was getting older, I was trying to find the best place for me. There was never any pressure for me to go to UCLA. My dad would take me along to other places, telling me I needed to keep my options open. But UCLA was just where I wanted to be. I loved this school.”
As her sophomore teammate, Jazmin Machado had a front-row seat to her sister’s dominating high school career. After witnessing those achievements, Jazmin Machado harbored a strong desire to emulate her sister’s success.
“Since she was older, she did a lot of things before me,” Jazmin Machado said. “When it was my turn to take over, I was like, “˜She won. Oh, I have to win now.’ For me it was always like I wanted to live up to what she did.”
Filling the void left by her sister’s departure to Westwood, Jazmin Machado would go on to captain the team to a pair of section titles of her own and rake in more than a few individual accolades.
Soon, she arrived at the same junction her sister had two years before, but by then you could have chiseled her letter of intent in stone.
“In the back of my mind, (UCLA) was where I always wanted to go, even though I had never really verbalized it. But I knew,” Jazmin Machado said. “When (Jade) was here that just kind of sealed the deal.”
Now, they’ve embarked on their second year together in Westwood, and the two sisters give off the impression that they wouldn’t really mind if they spent the rest of their lives following each other around, of course, as long as they had a ball and a 7-foot net.
“We’re like best friends,” Jade Machado said with a giggle. “If one of us makes a friend, they probably just end up becoming friends with the other one. That’s just the way it is.”
“We go to the beach together, like all the time,” her sister added.
“Yeah, the beach is No. 1,” Jade Machado agreed.
Such a cohesive friendship has had its benefits on the court as well, especially for Jazmin Machado as she made the transition to college level volleyball.
“Last year coming in it was obviously scary as a freshman, but I already knew a lot of stuff because she would tell me little tidbits of things, like, “˜You’re not supposed to do this,’ or, “˜You’re supposed to do this,'” the younger sister said. “It definitely helped so much having someone on the team that you knew right away was going to be your friend no matter what. She has to be my friend ““ she’s my sister.”
Because they have been teammates for so long, Jade Machado, a defensive specialist, and Jazmin Machado, a setter, have learned to use their relationship as a key to staying focused even in the offseason.
“We push each other to keep doing stuff during the summer, like keep working out or keep lifting,” Jazmin Machado said. “We can do it together and it helps to have someone help you continue doing what you have to do.”
Recently, Ed Machado left his job as the coach of the women’s volleyball team at La Costa Canyon. For the first two years of his older daughter’s college career, Machado spent much of the volleyball season attending to coaching duties at the high school.
“When he was still coaching (Jazmin), he missed almost all my games,” the older sister said. “He was so sad about it.”
For a father who has devoted his life to volleyball and poured his knowledge and support into his two children’s own perpetuation of the game, Ed Machado was not going to let more of his daughter’s games go by in his absence. He is now the director of a volleyball club in San Diego ““ still an influential job in the sport’s community ““ but with more flexibility for trips to Westwood. He even gets to lend a hand sometimes.
“Every summer we’ll go down to his gym and he’ll run the ball machine for us,” Jade Machado said.
Now, most importantly, Ed Machado can watch every game his daughters play at Pauley Pavilion, underneath a blue banner commemorating the two championships he helped capture for UCLA more than 30 years ago.