Matt Kabza and Diallo Lewis. Two men with different specialties, different backgrounds and different jobs at Grant high school.
When Principal Vivian Orlen decided she wanted to change the approach to athletics at the school, she turned to Kabza and Lewis. Their task? To work as co-athletic directors at the school. And in doing so, they are charged with uniting Grant’s athletic department, improving community outreach and providing fulfilling sports opportunities to Grant’s students.
“Grant has one of the most successful athletic programs in the city,” Lewis says. “Kabza and I are looking forward to making it one of the best programs in the state. Athletics offers great examples of team work and life lessons. With the support of administration, staff, coaches, and community, Grant will become a more comprehensive athletic program.”
Kabza and Lewis will target one of last year’s biggest weaknesses: getting sports teams out in force to support each other. If they can pull it off, school unity will follow. The pair also wants to make sure programs can survive financially.
Orlen has high hopes that the two partners can achieve this. She says, “Parents are fearful opportunities won’t be here because of the budget cuts and I believe our athletic directors can bring the community to see that opportunities are here.”
Orlen says she will rely on Kabza and Lewis to make connections with potential supporters from the community. Building successful feeder programs for sports can make a difference.
“Since the number of students at Grant is large, it takes a partnership to do it right,” Orlen says.
Kabza says bringing back school spirit can help. “I want no negative energy this year but a united front,” he says. “It’s all about Grant as a whole and everyone working as a community to support each other.”
Matt Kabza: Covering the Bases
Story by Clara Howell
Photo by Nicole Goodman
Matt Kabza holds up a pink, frilly cloth diaper and tries to maneuver the Velcro.
“I’ve never changed a diaper before,” Kabza says smiling. “Yes. This will definitely be something new. It would be a lot easier if there was a baby in it.”
At age 35, Kabza has been at Grant High School for seven years teaching business. Last year, he became Grant’s head baseball coach. And he’s also going to be a new dad. He and his wife, Meghann Kabza, have a new baby daughter.
Despite his many upcoming challenges, teaching is at his core. Kabza’s mom, Margaret Kabza, was a kindergarten teacher’s aid at Vernon. She worked in library technical services for 12 years, where she bought the library books for schools.
Being very close to his mom, Kabza says: “She was unselfish and cared about others, making my brother and I her top priority. I want to bring this to my new family. As a single mom, I’d say she did a pretty good job.”
His mom remembers Kabza always being the one in class who would help others who were having problems. “I always thought he was a teacher, but he didn’t recognize it in himself at first,” she says.
Kabza grew up with his older brother, Nate. Their parents divorced when Kabza was only four. As a kid, Matt Kabza liked to build and take things apart only to put them back together again. His mom remembers a time when her alarm clock stopped working. When she returned from work, four-year-old Kabza was sitting in the middle of the floor and said, “I fixed it, but I don’t know how to put the hands back on.”
When Kabza was in sixth grade, his mom remembers attending a parent teacher conference. Kabza’s teacher addressed her as Kirby’s mom. Puzzled, Margaret Kabza said she didn’t have a son named Kirby. That’s when she learned that Matt had picked up the nickname from Kirby Puckett – a professional baseball player.
Kabza’s mom recalls the two kids always throwing baseballs around the house, leaving one memorable hole in a wall. They played wiffle ball and other games, mostly centered around baseball. “They were always throwing things,” she says.
Kabza graduated from Madison High School with a 3.85 grade-point average. He was an all-state baseball player and all-league football player, had honorable mention for basketball and played varsity soccer.
Being the outgoing teen that he was, Kabza was his schools pep rep and senior class vice president. Having more school spirit was his goal. “Sure, I liked attention,” he says.
He attended Linfield College where he ended his times playing baseball after his junior year because of an elbow injury. “Not playing baseball was hard to adjust to,” Kabza says.
He took up outdoor sports such as kayaking, rock-climbing, backpacking and hiking. When Kabza graduated, he majored in business and got his master’s degree in teaching. He worked at REI and as an independent sales rep selling outdoor gear. His mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer, but survived. It was enough to make Kabza think about starting his own family.
While working at REI, he met his soon-to-be wife Meghann on a blind date. They were linked once they discovered they each had a dying love for the Chicago Cubs.
He’s passionate about sports and how it contributes to students’ lives, and by gaining the new responsibility as one of Grant’s athletic directors, he has high hopes.
Cordell Harris, a Grant senior, says he’s been lucky for having Kabza as a teacher twice now and as a coach. “Kabza will definitely market our school bringing in sponsors and money,” Harris says.
At home, Kabza and his wife have created a nursery, equipped with a visual baby monitor, a closet full of clothes and a brightly colored owl theme.
Something his mother used to say – “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right” – has stuck with him lately, and he’ll practice it in his new role.
Diallo Lewis: Setting the Tone
“Let’s Go!” Diallo Lewis shouts. A strong sturdy stance, focused eyes and a loud voice push Grant’s football team in the weight room. Barbells clang and team members move from station to station, working hard to get ready for the season.
The football players are working it. Sweat pouring, veins pulsating, breathing heavy. Lewis encourages his athletes to believe in themselves and do their best. A stern look masked over Lewis’s face easily transforms into a smile after a complete set of warm ups gets finished. He laughs, gives out friendly handshakes and shows his excitement for yet another season.
Lewis heads into his tenth year as a counselor. It will be his eighth season as head football coach. He has won more playoff games in seven years than Grant has in the previous 40 years combined. His record is 61-19.
But there’s more to Lewis than the school and the sports. He’s a husband, father, a mentor and a loyalist. His drive comes from an upbringing that included respecting diversity and treating people with dignity.
“In high school, I wish I had someone who offered more support and guidance, especially being a young black male,” says Lewis. “I want to be that person.”
Lewis was an only child who was born and raised in Portland. His parents never married, but split when he was a toddler. Not being close with his biological father as a kid, he relied on his mom to show him the way. “She was loving, nurturing, and supportive,” Lewis recalls. “Mom was the oldest of her siblings so she was like a mother figure to many.”
Even though Lewis was an only child, it didn’t always seem like it because of the large amount of relatives and family members he had around. As a kid, Lewis was very quiet, shy and introverted.
He remembers trying to tag along with the older kids in the neighborhood. Riding around on their bikes, Lewis wasn’t far behind, trying to keep up on his Big Wheel.
Lewis transfered to Jesuit High School as a sophomore. “I was the only black student in my senior class,” Lewis says. “But the Jesuit teachers were giving, caring and made sure I felt comfortable.”
He played varsity football for coach Ken Potter. In his senior year, the team was ranked No. 1 in state but lost in quarterfinals. While high school football ended, Lewis’s relationship with his coach carried on.
Ask Potter what he thinks of his former player and he gets excited. “I love him like a son,” Potter says. “He makes me proud. I’m so honored to have coached him and be a part of his life.”
He said Lewis wasn’t the most talented, but he had leadership, “He would sacrifice his own personal goals for what’s best for the team,” Potter recalls. “He was trustworthy and I could count on him to persevere and come through.”
Lewis was recruited to play at Portland State University where he graduated with a degree in social science and a master’s degree in counselor education.
But he also took classes in black studies. “These classes opened my eyes to the struggles of black Americans,” Lewis says. “It gave me a better understanding of why things are the way they are with race.”
After college, he worked at a residential treatment center for boys. But his education led him to the job he holds now. In 2009, Lewis was hit with the death of his mother who had battled cancer for 12 years. “The thing I miss the most is her unconditional love, her support and her daily phone calls,” Lewis says.
Lewis and his wife, Charneal, have been married for four years. Lewis has two kids, Christopher and Marcus.
Senior Nate Halverson says Lewis, “is a coach with experience that cares about his players on and off the field and wants all of us to become successful in life whether its football or not,” Halverson says.
