CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Mike Candrea temporarily left his job as head coach of the UA softball team in order to lead Team USA at this summer's Olympic games in Athens, Greece.

Mike Candrea has staked his claim as the best softball coach in the nation. He's headed the nation's best program in recent years, won six national titles and seven Pac-10 Championships, and made 16 straight World Series appearances.

Now, he is out to conquer the world.

Candrea, Arizona's head coach, will lead Team USA into the Olympics this summer after leading Arizona to the status as best national program, according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll.

"There is not many times in life when you get a chance to represent your country, and to me, that is probably the greatest compliment you can get as a coach," Candrea said. "I'm very proud to put on that uniform and I'm very proud when we are on the medal stand and our national anthem is being played.

"It sends goose bumps. It always had, but in this day and age right now, the way the world is - it is even more special, and I am just proud to be a part of it."

The preparations for the games necessitated that Candrea, a resident of Casa Grande, take a leave of absence from the Wildcats this year, but he said that the Wildcats, who raced out to their best start ever this season, have been "outstanding" in his absence.

But Candrea, who said he has checked UA scores at 3 a.m. from Italy, said the break has been "very tough."

"It is the most difficult thing I have ever done," he said. "When you recruit someone like a (senior catcher) Mackenzie Vandergeest, you expect to be here for her whole career. The way the timing came, it was a chance of a lifetime to do what I am doing, and I'm just glad that she understands."

Longtime assistant coach Larry Ray took the reigns this year as acting UA head coach. Unlike USA assistant coach John Rittman, the head coach at Stanford, Candrea decided a clean break would be best, though the Wildcats were excited when he attended the games he could.

"It is nice having him around," said sophomore pitcher Alicia Hollowell.

Ray said Candrea began preparing him before the end of last season for the possibility that he would be away in 2004.

"It has (worked out). Mike has put a lot of thought into it, as to who would take over in his absence, and I'm very appreciative of his confidence in me and I was just hoping to do the best job I could," said Ray, a former Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year while at Florida.

Candrea will hardly be alone while abroad. Three former Wildcats are on the USA squad: pitcher Jennie Finch, second baseman Lovie Jung and first baseman/outfielder Leah O'Brien-Amico. Former UA outfielder Nicole Giordano is an alternate.

Not counting Junior Olympic teams, which freshmen Caitlin Lowe and Kristie Fox were on this year and last year, the UA has had 48 selections on USA teams since the beginning of the 1990s. Under Candrea, the Wildcats have had a national-best 43 first-team All-Americans.

Candrea, a finalist for 2003 U.S. Olympic Committee Coach of the Year, has planned extensively for the games. The team just finished a trip to Italy to get accustomed to extensive training in the Mediterranean.

Team USA will train in Athens two weeks before the games to adjust for the time change.

Candrea has spent two years planning for things like having the team play without taking batting practice, should they not have time in the Olympics.

The pressure will certainly be on Candrea. The team has gone 30-0 so far on its "Aiming for Athens" tour, holds a 131-game pre-Olympic tour win streak and won the world's first two gold medals for softball in 1996 and 2000.

Candrea said the Olympic team has the chance to be the best team ever.

"It is fun to have a chance to work with great athletes, but on the other hand, there are also some trying moments with the distractions that come with the Olympic games and the Olympic team - something you don't deal with in college," Candrea said. "It has been a great learning experience for me and I'm excited."

Candrea was heavily involved with USA softball in the early 1990s, but stepped away for his kids' sake.

With the Athens softball facilities already completed, the eight-time Pacific 10 Conference Coach of the Year has turned his focus elsewhere.

"The facilities, I tell you what, are going to be some of the best things that you've seen," Candrea said. "Softball's done, some of the others - I can't say, but softball's looking good.

"My only concern, obviously, is the state of the world right now. Where that will be in August, only time will tell."

On the very same day Candrea visited Athens last week after the Italy trip, the USOC purchased an insurance policy in case a terrorist attack does occur.

"That's a little freakish," Candrea said. "We're doing a lot of planning. A lot of the planning is not so much planning on the field but planning for things that can occur," he said.

In a year where women's wrestling is being added to the Olympics, Candrea knows the Athens games are important for softball, which along with baseball, could be on the chopping block. USA Baseball did not qualify for the games.

"Obviously, softball does need a boost. We can't say that we're in the clear right now, because every Olympic year, it comes up for a vote whether they are going to keep softball or not," Candrea said. "We're trying to do our part; we have some great personalities on this team and great athletes, and I am just proud to be a part of it."

Team USA plays its first game of the Olympics on Aug. 14 against Italy.

"We're going to be ready," Candrea said. "We're excited. We're looking forward to it."