Sky Gilbar / Special to The Star Nick Cuayna, 17, left, of Ventura College, chats with his mentor and California Big Brother of the Year John Hodak during a match against CLU. Hodak, of Agoura Hills, has been Cuayna's mentor for 10 years.

An Agoura Hills businessman is California's Big Brother of the Year.

John Hodak was chosen from 23 candidates and will be honored Sept. 10 in San Francisco.

Hodak, 63, was humbled but ambivalent when he heard of his nomination, he said.

"It's a nice honor, but the best news they could ever give me is that the kids on the waiting list are no longer on the list because there are enough Big Brothers or Big Sisters that have volunteered to mentor these kids," he said.

Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America is a national youth mentoring organization. Mentors are paired with children from 6 to 18, and develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting impact, according to the organization's Web site.

Hodak was nominated as the state's best Big Brother by Lynne West, chief executive officer of the Ventura County chapter of the organization.

"John is one of the most exemplary Big Brothers I have ever met," West said. "Over the course of the last 22 years, he has had five little brothers and made a huge impact in every one of their lives."

He began mentoring children 22 years ago when his only son lost interest in the activities they once enjoyed together.

"One day, a camping trip to the mountains wasn't nearly as appealing as dating this really cute girl in his class," Hodak said.

Hodak said he wasn't going to stop camping, fishing and riding his bike. "I thought, Why not share that with a kid who may never have an opportunity to do that?'"

He recently began mentoring his sixth "little," a 12-year-old boy who lives in Westlake Village.

"I expect to be doing this at least until I'm 100, just because of the value in it," he said.

Teaching his little brothers how to start campfires, catch fish and treat others with respect are among the many things Hodak offers his "littles."

"I try to instill in them that you get out of life what you put into it," he said.

His experiences have not all been rosy, though. Hodak has had to make a few minor adjustments and compromises.

"I'm probably not the greatest rap fan in the world, but I've learned that I can adapt to that, to a degree," he said. "Then I torture them, like they torture me, by listening to some '60s rock music."

Nick Cwayna, 17, a child of a single parent in Newbury Park, was matched with Hodak in 1997.

"He made me feel more confident, and made me more outgoing," Cwayna said. "I used to be really shy, and now I can go up to people and introduce myself."

Hodak proudly watched Cwayna graduate from Newbury Park High School in June, and will continue to be there for him as Cwayna plays football at Ventura College.

Hodak's most challenging little brother was a boy who was taken from his parents at age 5. His other siblings were adopted, and he was left in the foster care system.

West asked Hodak to mentor the then 14-year-old boy in 2003. He was living at Casa Pacifica, a residential therapeutic facility in Camarillo for abused, neglected and severely emotionally disturbed children.

"It's difficult to deal with a kid who's got an awful lot of insecurities," he said. "It certainly wasn't his fault that he didn't have a stable home life."

Although Hodak worries about the boy's life after the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, the young man, now 18, is making improvements and is living with an Oxnard foster mother, Hodak said.

"Sometimes you'll never see the impact you make on a person's life," he said. "They may not show you, but there is a positive effect."