A longstanding part of athletics at MHS, Coach Vito Cangemi has been involved with coaching at MHS for 15 years, including coaching varsity football and boys varsity golf starting this year as well, Cangemi said in an interview.
Cangemi has been playing golf for over 35 years, but originally played football in college and even had some NFL tryouts as a kicker, he said. Since kicking and swinging have fairly similar mechanics, he was able to get into golf at a fairly young age and enjoy it as well, he added.
“I had known that they (MHS Athletics department) were looking for a coach, and Ms. Butcher had talked to me about possibly doing it because I helped out with the girl’s season a little bit,” Cangemi said. “She knew I was an avid golfer, and she’s known my coaching style for a long time considering how long I’ve been here.”
Although there are a large number of differences between coaching football and coaching golf, such as the difference in the number of players, Cangemi is trying to make coaching the two sports as similar as possible, he said.
“Here at Milpitas, we try to teach a family atmosphere, and we’re always going to be supportive of each other,” Cangemi said. “I’m trying to project that to the golf team because it is an individual sport. We still have team goals though, so having that understanding and always looking out for each other is the message we’re trying to portray.”
The boys varsity team has a lot of depth this year including many players with great skill and talent, rather than just a couple star players, Cangemi said.
“From what I’ve been seeing and hearing from other coaches, we have a good shot at potentially winning our league,” Cangemi said. “There’s some good returners from the past year that have laid the foundation for what we can do. However, it’s only going to come with hard work, and the kids know that as I’ve reiterated it to them,” he added.
Since Coach Cangemi has several years of coaching experience and has been playing golf for a long time, the team has adjusted fairly quickly to his coaching style, boys varsity golf team captain and senior Anav Madan said.
“He helps a lot with teaching everybody the swing and other techniques, but especially the mental game, which is the most important thing,” Madan said.
After coaching for many years, the most rewarding thing about being involved in high school athletics is the relationships that he has built with the students, Cangemi said. What matters to him the most is helping lead his students in the right direction and always being positive with them, he added.
“I think it’s a lot harder for kids these days (to stay positive) because there are so many distractions, but the culture here is awesome,” Cangemi said. “The relationships here at MHS are very positive, and that’s what we want to breed in anything because positivity more than anything is going to breed you success,” he added.
Outside of coaching at MHS, Cangemi coaches football camps for kids and has worked with professional student athletes in college and high school. He has also been in the real estate business for a long time and is still involved in which he is able to use his golfing interests for business purposes, he added.
“I’ve played a lot of sports on both the professional and amateur level, and it (golf) is the most humbling sport I’ve ever played in my life,” Cangemi said. “It is definitely something that challenges you. You don’t have to be the best golfer in the world, but one day you’ll hit that one shot, and that’s all the satisfaction you’ll need.
In terms of advice for students and athletes, Cangemi always tells his players to stay focused because there are always going to be people out there who doubt them, he said. He encourages his team to stay humble, but always work to prove those people wrong.
“I tell these kids all the time that I love that you are great athletes, but I want you to be more successful in the most important game you ever get to play — the game of life,” Cangemi said.