Congrats to the boys of the TAVA Hawaii boys volleyball club for their accomplishments at the USA Volleyball Boys Junior Nationals Championships in Phoenix.
The team, made up of players from three local high schools and one local that attends school on Oahu, placed third in their division. The tourney concluded earlier this week.
Also, congrats to the girls of Ike Loa Volleyball Club. Ike Loa, another all-Kauai team made up of high school and middle school-aged players, finished 10th in their division at the Arizona Festival Volleyball Tournament in Phoenix. That competition ended earlier this month.
But I believe more importantly, I applaud their initiative to make an effort to reach out to college coaches. In these tournaments, these young athletes got the chance to showcase themselves to potential recruiters.
I hope all of you get that chance to play on collegiately.
I’d also like to commend the coaches and organizers who taken on helping these young people, trying to get them to that next level.
After working here at The Garden Island for a few years and have gotten to know some local prep athletes who have since graduated high school, I sometimes wonder if they continue on in their respective sports afterward.
Far too often, I hear about some of them and find out they’re no longer competing in some capacity.
I’m sure for a lot of them, they simply chose to go a different path. And that’s great if they have found another calling.
I guess that life sometimes, and not to say that its a bad thing, but I can’t help but be a little disappointed.
As I can imagine, I’d believe for a lot of these kids they’ve been playing since they were, well, smaller kids — much smaller. Whether it be Little League, community leagues, or just playing ball on the blacktop or playing catch on some patch of grass, they found something they loved at a young age.
I can also imagine that since they have found that love, they spend countless hours playing and practicing. And on top of that, parents must have spent a lot of money for uniforms and equipment, and perhaps even paid for costs to join clubs or camps.
I was always disheartened at the thought that after all those years of work in practice and all those resources spent on improving a kid’s skills, all of that suddenly stops when graduation hits.
I’m not oblivious to the fact that there are a finite number of college scholarships and everyone simply cannot be chosen.
But maybe if a kid aspires to play college ball, they may sometimes not have the best chance unfortunately simply because of lack of direction.
So for those who do want to play in college, at any level, efforts like these are encouraging.
To these volleyball kids, and to all of you who share similar goals, I hope you all get your shot.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
