Monica Trainer started her coaching career at UC Riverside in 1985. After completing her collegiate career at San Jose State in 1980, she was drafted by the San Jose Diablos of the International Volleyball Association. A year later, she embarked upon a three-year European semi-pro career, playing for teams in Italy and Switzerland. She also played one year for the USA pro team, the Jazz.
Since 1978, Trainer has instructed at many summer camps, working extensively with UCLA volleyball coach Al Scates, Sports Quest, Converse, and the USVBA. She has assisted with coaching clinics in Japan, Germany and across the United States. In 1995, Trainer coached a team for Sports for Understanding which competed in Italy. She has teamed with Gozansky to work with the Department of Defense Dependent Students (DoDDS) Camp in Manhiem, Germany, where she taught volleyball to United States students who are living in Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belguim and Greece.
Trainer has continued her volleyball career by participating in many USA Volleyball (USAV) tournaments across the nation. She is a ten-time USAV All-America selection and a member of the USAV Seniors national championship team in 1990, 1993 (2 divisions), 1994, 1999 (2 divisions), 2000 and 2002. In 2003 her team, the Mavericks, won the gold in the 40 and 45 age group division.
Monica was also the recipient of the 2003 AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award. She was one of the nation's 500 best assistant coaches chosen from a pool of 350,000 nominees nation wide.
Trainer and her husband Joe, live in Beaumont.
Nir Ofer was hired as an assistant volleyball coach in the summer of 2006. He comes to UC Riverside with a reputation for knowledge, enthusiasm and innovative and exciting ways of coaching volleyball.
Ofer served as an assistant coach for the Maccabiah USA Open Women's Volleyball Team in 2004. The team, comprised of Division I, II and III collegiate players, competed in Santiago, Chile and earned a silver medal at the Pan American Games. Ofer then was named chairman of the men's and women's volleyball teams for the Maccabiah Games, held in Israel in 2005, as a player-coach, he helped the team to win a bronze medal. Nir runs camps across the country for Gold Medal Squared which is organized by past and current USA Volleyball Olympic coaches.
Ofer began his coaching career in 1998 and opened his Performance Volleyball Academy in 2001. He has coached at various levels in his career including boys varsity head coach, girls varsity assistant coach and girls JV head coach. His teams have won five league titles, including three undefeated seasons and a CIF playoff quarterfinal appearance. He played collegiate volleyball at Mt. San Antonio College and also attended Cal Poly Pomona.
In his free time, Ofer enjoys playing the guitar, reading, watching movies, attending concerts, and of course volleyball. He is single and resides in Irvine.