Okamoto's Legacy
CompuSkills
"Longy" Okamoto will live on in Hawaii volleyball for years to come.
The gentle father of island junior volleyball passed away due to heart
failure at Queen's Medical Center. It was a heart that lasted 66
years, several years longer than his doctors expected, many years too
short for those who loved and respected him.
"If you played volleyball, you knew 'Mr. O,' said University of Hawaii
volleyball player Chastity Nobriga, who competed two seasons for
Okamoto's Kamalii Manaloa Volleyball Club. "He was one of the most
caring, giving, generous men I ever knew. No, he was THE most
generous man I knew."
Yesterday, word of his death spread quickly throughout the island
volleyball community. Soon, the house he shared with wife Eleanor and
hundreds of young players was full of those wishing to convey their
condolences to the Okamoto family: daughters Erin Coker, Sheri
Vandervoot and Maury Okamoto Kearney, and son Lon.
Longy would have been embarassed by the fuss. Much as he was when his
15-and-under girls' team won their first national title. "We had been
playing all day, maybe 10 matches, but we knew we had to win one
more," said Nobriga. "It was Mr. O's birthday."
Former Wahine Toni Nishida was on that team and remembered how the
players dragged Okamoto out on the court, then serenaded him with
"Happy Birthday to You." "Everything I learned about volleyball, I
learned from him," said Nishida. "More than winning, what we gained
on that trip was exposure to life."
Exposure was what Okamoto had in mind when he founded Kamalii Manaloa
(Mighty Children of Hawaii) in 1976. He pioneered the junior club
concept, feeling it would be the educational ticket to somewhere for
kids who had nowhere else to go.
"We started with one handpicked team of girls," said daughter Erin.
"By our third year, we had over 100 kids. Dad saw that volleyball was
going to be the only way out for some of these kids. We now have
players from every island, over 1,000. It's so neat watching them
come from all over when it's Kamalii time. What made him happiest was
bringing them from all different places and backgrounds and seeing
them all play together."
"He wasn't selective," said Lovina Ah Mow, mother of current Wahine
setter Robyn. "All that mattered was the kids wanted to pursue
volleyball. Even when the kids don't play anymore, the parents still
want to help. We're still there."
The list is endless. Joyce Kapuaala Kaapuni, Waynett Mitchell,
Stephanie Shota, Lee Ann Pestana Satele, Maile Golden, Pele Baker,
Teri Bertulfo, Tita Ahuna, the Paets, the Robins.
On one remarkable weekend in 1989, the NAIA nationals were at BYU-
Hawaii, the Wahine were hosting Cal Poly San Luis Osbisbo and the
state tournament was going on. More than 70 players who had Kamalii
roots were on the courts.
"He was a leader in youth volleyball when it wasn't popular and a
leader through now when it is," said former Punahou volleyball coach
Chris McLachlin. "He was ahead of his time. Okamoto created the
volleyball players of the future for Hawaii, said McLachlin's wife,
Beth, a former U.S. national team player.
When Okamoto suffered his first heart attack in 1981, he saw it as a
sign from God. "I interviewed him for a school paper," said former
Wahine Stephanie Shota. "He said when he didn't pass away, it was
because God was giving him a second chance to help as many children in
Hawaii as he could. He never turned anyone down. He was someone that
was always there for you, someone you thought would never leave."
Okamoto made an impact from the time he started playing for the Kuhio
Beachboys in the 1940s. He gained notoriety as the barefoot setter on
Hawaii's first USVBA entry in 1956. But Mr. O will be remembered best
for what he left behind -- the thousands of players who learned what
really counts in life.
-- Cindy Luis, Honolulu Star Bulletin, February 27, 1995