Sonny played for Coach Featherstone at Grossmont College in 1995 and ’96 after coming over to California from his home state of Texas.  Like Leonardo Morales, he was an undersized middle blocker who was anxious to learn how to play with the boys on the West Coast.  He succeeded.  He developed into an All-Conference player by ’96 and began a long, successful career as an indoor and beach player, and, became a highly competent junior coach as well as a collegiate assistant coach.  Sonny spent eleven total years coaching with Seaside.  Next to Featherstone, he is the longevity leader.

     Innovative as a player, Sonny was equally innovative as a coach.  He was another Seaside coach who assisted Coach Featherstone at Grossmont College.  He understood the fine intricacies of the game at a young age.  He was outstanding at teaching skills and sound playing fundamentals.  Tactically, he always had good ideas.  He was equally good with players with talent or those players who needed a lot of patient coaching.  

     At Grossmont, he came along at a good time for coaching, as the team was ‘stacked’ with top players in ’99 and 2000.  Both teams finished 3rd at the State Tournament and Sonny had the opportunity to work with some great players –Leonardo Morales and local standout, Matt Olson being two of them.  With Seaside, from ’96 to 2001, Sonny coached many teams at the 15 thru 17 age levels.  Coach Featherstone knew that his ability to teach the basics was primary to the developmental aspects of many of the club’s top young players and that it would benefit the players and the club over time.

     In 2002, Sonny coached the Seaside 16-1 team to a 5th-place finish at the Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky.  In ’03, he assisted Jeff Hall with the 16’s again as they won a Bronze Medal at the JO’s in Phoenix, Arizona.  In 2004, in Austin, Texas, Sonny did a fantastic job coaching the Seaside 18 Black team to a 3rd place finish, losing in a close semifinal match to eventual champion Southern California Volleyball Club (SCVC).  Current NBA star, Chase Budinger, was a sophomore starting outside hitter on that team.  Sonny followed this high finish up with a solid 5th place finish at JO’s in 2005 with the 16-1 team again.  In ’06, Sonny coached the 14-1 team to a Championship in the Boys Invitational and then a 7th place finish at Nationals.

     All toll, Sonny coached 15 Junior Olympic All Americans from Seaside.  In addition, he coached the Francis Parker JV boy’s team to a 24-1 record over the 2003-04 seasons.

     Sonny is currently coaching young girls and boys on the fine points of being successful in beach doubles.  He has been running beach clinics at South Mission Beach since 2011.  He is also a certified PADI scuba diving instructor and CPR trainer.

     Coach Featherstone on Sonny Knight :  “Sonny was the best technical coach in the club for years. . . He would really challenge my knowledge at times, but I always enjoyed talking tactics and technique with my coaches and he was no exception. If he wanted your assistance, he would ask for it. . .But, if you offered to bark out coaching tips to his players while they were playing, he wouldn’t hesitate to call you out on it. . .It was his game and his team and that’s what he preferred. . .As the Director of the club, I would just stay the heck out of the way until the matches were over !. . .Sonny was usually in full command mode and seldom needed anyone’s help anyways unless it was to scout the opponent while the match was unfolding. . .  Clearly the most stubborn of all the coaches in the club, Sonny preferred to be unconventional at times, but only if it helped his teams gain a tactical advantage. . .  For example, he often had all his players serve short for an entire match, for example; or, he would install his own read blocking system when everyone else was following the USA system. . .On the other hand, Sonny wasn’t afraid to borrow ideas from other coaches, and, eventually he realized he wasn’t the only risk-taker. . .We all did what we had to do at times, when our teams were outclassed or playing bad. . .Occasionally, he would watch what I was doing, in the middle of a match, to change the tempo. . .I had a whole chapter in our coaches manual on things you can try to put your team in position to defeat a superior opponent. . .Sonny liked challenges and he once observed me instructing my blockers to switch often from a standard ‘read system’ to a ‘triple commit system’ and he commented – “ I like that; you’re forcing their setter to recheck the block often and I think it throws off his rhythm. .”  My comment back was – “You got it ! . .When the setter hesitates, the game slows down” . . .The bottom-line was :  I knew Sonny could coach any team, at any level, and get the players to improve in leaps and bounds from the start of the year to the end. . . He did what he had to do with young boys – whether it was footwork, armwork, eyework, quirky system work; whatever it took to help them gain an edge.”