BASKETBALL COACH ARRESTED

The arrest of a Langley high school basketball coach has ended a
search by U.S. federal authorities that has spanned nearly 30 years.

Steven Iwami, known to the Brookswood Bobcats senior girls basketball
team as Steve Tanaka, was arrested by Vancouver RCMP last Thursday,
Jan. 24 outside his Kitsilano home, then handed over to U.S.
authorities in Washington State the next day.

Iwami, 52, was convicted and sentenced to five years in a Chicago
court for conspiring to sell one pound of cocaine in 1973.

Free on bond while appealing his conviction, Iwami fled Chicago, and
authorities believe he eventually ended up in Vancouver in 1976. This
was his first season as the head coach for the Bobcats. He was an
assistant last year.

"The girls knew that he had some personal problems, but they didn't
understand the severity of those problems (until now)," said Rhona
Boyce, whose daughter Danica is one of the girls on the Bobcats. "For
some of the girls on this team, it's their last year, and this is what
they will remember."

Boyce sat on the bench as a supervisor for the Bobcats game on Jan.
24, when Iwami, usually punctual, could not make it to the game.

She described Iwami as a great coach and totally dedicated to the
kids, making the trek from Kitsilano to Langley five or six times a
week for practices and games.

"He genuinely cared for the kids," said Boyce, who has travelled with
the team numerous times this year. "When we went on road trips he
always wanted to have team meals, because he truly enjoyed spending
time with them. He had a great sense of humour."

Brookswood athletic director Ivan Adrian said there was shock among
the players on the team upon hearing the news.

"The kids were worried when he didn't arrive on time for the game
because there was a storm, so they thought he was stuck in traffic,"
Adrian said. "When he didn't show up for the whole game, they thought
he might be in an accident. They were worried. When we told them what
happened, most of them were in a state of shock."

Adrian said that the school's coaches support Iwami, and hope that the
judicial system looks at the work he's done with kids, at Brookswood
and other school's he's coached at.

"I don't think you can take the time span into consideration to
justify a lesser sentence," he said. "But I think if they look at the
time he committed, the effort and volunteering for the kids, it's got
to be playing in the decision."

Although Iwami wouldn't again be able to coach at Brookswood, Adrian
was still supportive of the work he had done.

"I'm happy with him as a coach. I'm sure he's not proud of what he did
30 years ago, and he was only 21 years old when he did what he did,"
Adrian said. "Does it make me think lesser of him as a person? I don't
believe it does."

Randy Scott, deputy U.S. Marshal in Chicago, said that Iwami wasn't
charged with anything, but apprehended to serve his sentence.

"I have no ill will towards (Iwami) at all," said Scott, who learned
after apprehending Iwami of his work as a of his work as a coach. "If
he turned the corner and was a good citizen, that's fine with me. But
he owes a debt to society, and he chose the time when to serve it."

Scott told The Times that authorities, who had kept in contact with
Iwami's brother and parents over the course of the 30 years, had asked
the family to tell Steve to contact them and turn himself in.

"I personally spoke with his brother, and I knew that he was in
contact with Iwami, and gave him the chance to surrender," Scott said.
"He didn't act upon that invitation."

Authorities in the U.S. asked for assistance from Vancouver RCMP when
their investigations found that Iwami's parents, who live in Las
Vegas, had recently returned from a trip to Vancouver.

Boyce has talked to her daughter about what's happened, and she said
her support of Iwami won't waver.

"She's pretty strong-minded, and it doesn't change her opinion of
him," she said. "She understands that it was a mistake he made over 30
years ago.

"I know that all the girls are worried about Steve, and they're afraid
that he's going to be portrayed in a negative way. They don't want him
portrayed as a bad guy - he's been a great influence on them."