All work and no play makes for a dull team. Or, in international volleyball terms, one that isn’t sharp, a key to maintaining elite status in the sport.
Midway through the Olympic quadrennial, the U.S. is taking a semi-break following its third-place finish in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League on July 8 with a week-long stay on Oahu. It’s a combination of training, refocusing and relaxing after playing 18 matches in six countries over the past six weeks.
“The Olympic pursuit is so comprehensive, so intense, so all encompassing,” U.S. head coach John Speraw said in an telephone call prior to the team’s arrival today. “It’s a commitment, not just by the players and coaches, but by their families.
“We’ve been thinking about doing something like this since last spring, when we were up in Colorado Springs (site of the U.S. Olympic Training Center). USA Water Polo does a retreat, so the idea of a getaway for us was intriguing. But Colorado Springs in the middle of summer … ?”
U.S. MEN’S VOLLEYBALL NATIONAL TEAM
Training Session
>> 9 a.m Thursday, ‘Iolani School
Red-blue Scrimmages
$10 admission at door
>> 7 p.m. Friday, Kamehameha Schools
>> 6 p.m. Saturday, Kalani High
Coming, instead, to Hawaii was a natural choice for many reasons, including that a quarter of the 20-man training roster is from Oahu. Besides Olympians Micah Christenson (Kamehameha) and Kawika and Erik Shoji (‘Iolani and Punahou, respectively), also in the practice gym will be Punahou products Micah Ma’a and Larry “Tui” Tuileta.
Former University of Hawaii All-America middle blocker Taylor Averill also is here for the training sessions that begin Monday at Punahou.
“We’ve always talked about coming to Hawaii,” said Speraw, who played against UH while at UCLA in the 1990s and has brought his collegiate teams (UC Irvine and later UCLA) to face the Rainbow Warriors. “Part of it is Hawaii’s influence on the sport and the American volleyball landscape. We recognize how much of an impact the islands have had on the game, how knowledgeable the fans are, how the sport is supported there.
“We wanted to connect with a place that has given so much to the game. It led us to explore the possibility. It’s not so much as a retreat — there’s no real need for team bonding, we’ve been together so much over the past few months. We know we need to train but also to relax.”
To that end, the U.S. will have morning practices Monday through Thursday with afternoons for excursions that include the team’s families.
“Families are so important to us,” Speraw said. “They’ve made the sacrifices, too.”
The training sessions Monday through Wednesday at Punahou are closed to the public. Thursday’s session at ‘Iolani is open to the public, with a question-and-answer session at the end of practice.
The trip concludes with Red-Blue scrimmages Friday at 7 p.m. at Kamehameha Schools and Saturday at 6 p.m. at Kalani High. Tickets are $10 and available at the door.
The U.S. also has a training trip planned next month for Argentina. The team resumes competition in the FIVB World Championship on Sept. 12 in Bari, Italy.
The Americans defeated Brazil for third place on July 8, an outcome that left Speraw less than satisfied.
“We’re in such a good place right now, team-wise,” he said. “I really wanted to play Russia in the final and I thought we’d get there. Our goal is to try to win a gold medal.”
Christenson and the Shoji brothers have contributed to the U.S. success, including a bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Christenson had a kill, a block and an ace as the starting setter in the July 8 sweep of Brazil for the bronze in the VNL and Erik Shoji was the libero in the 25-21, 28-26, 27-25 victory. (Kawika Shoji did not play.)
“Micah is one of the best setters in the world,” Speraw said. “Kawika is everything you want in a reserve setter, is such a great teammate. And Erik is one of the best liberos in the world.”
The Hawaii pipeline to the national team also includes Ma’a, a rising senior setter at UCLA, and Tuileta, who finished his volleyball eligibility at UH this spring but is on football scholarship with the Warriors this fall. Also being looked at for the future but not on the current training roster is UH rising senior setter Joe Worsley and younger brother Gage, who will be a sophomore libero in spring.
