Spiking, Slamming Skills Run In The Families At Aiea
By Jack Danilewicz
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Aiea High School head volleyball coach Blythe Yamamoto has always promoted a family atmosphere within her teams, but her current squad may very well set the standard for cohesiveness.
Indeed, when Na Ali’i's junior varsity and varsity teams began their respective seasons last week at the Longy Okamoto Invitational preseason tournament, five pairs of sisters could be found on Aiea’s rosters.
“Sometimes it’s good, and sometimes it’s bad,“Yamamoto said with a laugh. “When you have them playing on the same team, tempers are usually shorter between them, and I sometimes have to tell them,‘You need to treat each other like teammates and not sisters here.’
“But it definitely adds to our camaraderie, having all these sisters. It adds interest, and you have more families come out for the game, which is pretty neat.”
For their part, the younger siblings are finding that having a big sister around is more a positive than a negative. Freshman Ka’ala Leopoldo is in her first year on the varsity, having secured a spot during tryouts, and is the younger sister of veteran team leader Kelly Leopoldo, a junior outside hitter. The pair play together during the so-called off-season with the club Sawaiian but have never been teammates at a school before.
“I ask her a lot of questions,” Ka’ala said of her older sister. “It (varsity level) was kind of hard at first, but I’m getting used to it. I’ve played with older girls before, and it’s faster. I ask her what I need to work on, and I ask her to help me practice it.”
Added Kelly: “It was always a dream of my mom’s for us to play together. I think it’s a good thing having your sister on your team. We’re competitive with each other, but when you’re feeling down, they can bring you back up.”
The twosome are never at a loss for someone to talk volleyball within their own family. Their older sisters - Lynn, Kiana, Becca and Gerri - all played volleyball, and
Lynn Leopoldo helps coach Kelly and Ka’ala on Sawaiian.
“My older sisters are all like coaches to me,” Ka’ala said.
Taylor-Marie Suataia and sister Tiara’s situation is among the more unique among sibling relationships on the team. Taylor-Marie is a freshman on the varsity team, while Tiara plays on the JV despite being a year older than her sister. Next year, they’ll likely be playing alongside each other.
“I was sad that she’s not on varsity, but that was her choice,” Taylor-Marie said of Tiara. “She wanted more playing time, so I respect that. We’ve always been close - she’s my best friend outside of school, so we talk every night on our walk home about practice. Having a sister on the team helps us all to become closer. We all get along on this team for some reason. We’re not all sisters, but we seem to have that sisterly bonding among us, anyway.”
Like the Suataia sisters, Natasha Fong and younger sister Celeste play on separate teams, which might not be the worst thing, Natasha figures. The pair are used to competing with each other in both basketball and golf as well.
“We’re pretty competitive - even at home,” Natasha said,“but we’re pretty close. We talk every day about what’s going on with our teams. She is not only a sister, but a peer. I feel really comfortable talking to her.”
The Fong sisters share one more common bond: Both are setters who can discuss playing the same position.
“She’ll ask me for pointers and stuff, and I’ve helped her with her leadership skills. I was a captain last year, and she was a captain of the JV team, too,” said Natasha.“I think it adds to our closeness. Our other teammates treat each other like sisters also.”
While close, in some cases the sisters balance each other out personality-wise, according to Mele Samisoni, a junior middle-blocker, whose younger sister Maccyn (pronounced Maxeen), is an outside hitter on the JV.
“We’re very different,” Mele said.“I’m quiet, and she’s loud. We’ve always been close, so it’s been nice having her around.”
Na Ali’i are looking for a big rebound this fall after finishing 6-6 last season. To help with her team’s week-to-week preparation, Yamamoto has enlisted the services of a team psychologist, Daryl Oshiro of Positive Focus, to help.
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